The Shape of Things to Come
by Fayth in the Music
Summary: When Casey suddenly finds herself in the hospital, parts of Casey's past are revealed which she hoped to keep secret. Somebody's out to get Casey, and it becomes up to the Special Victim's Unit to solve find him before he can cause any more damage.
1. The Lawyer, Collapsed

Something didn't quite seem right with Casey Novak that day.

She looked a little out of it, as if she hadn't slept well that night. When asked, that's the excuse she used. According to her story, her neighbor had a very loud party the previous night. She told them she'd feel better once they were at trial.

That didn't seem to be the case. The courtroom merely gave her a ghostly complextion. However, whatever was going on, it didn't appear to hinder her lawyering abilities. She went at the case with the same zeal she always did, and the trial seemed to be going her way. However, a pained look crossed her face every time she moved. Even Judge Petrovsky and Trevor Langen were shooting her concerned looks. However, since whatever it was didn't seem to be affecting how she handled the trial, nobody made a comment.

The defendant was a young man by the name of Lawrence Soloman, and he was accused of sexually assaulting three of his classmates. The defense's argument was that the sex with the girls was consensual each time, and that the three accusers were conspiring against him. Unfortunately for Casey, the defendant was the poster-child for good behavior, and was playing his role very well. She would have bought the story, had she not talked to the three ladies. The fear in their voice and the power in their tears was enough to tell her there was no way they were making it up.

"So, you're a good looking guy," she told him, flashing him a fake smile, "I bet that a lot of girls want to be with you, right?"

"Yeah. I guess so," Lawrence responded, a cocky tone in his voice. Casey walked closer to him, and winced in pain. The defendant raised an eyebrow, but kept his composure.

"So was it your idea, or Cady Sandoval's idea to sleep together?" She continued.

"Cady's," he responded calmly. Casey nodded, and she forced the pained expression away from her face.

"Was it also Matsuri Tanaka's?" He nodded at her.

"Yes ma'am." She took another step towards the defendant, and took in a deep breath. She clenched her fists together, digging her nails into her hands.

"And Logan Harper? Did she have the hots for you too?"

"Yes ma'am," he responded again, "All three asked me to sleep with them. They're attractive, so I agreed."

"So could you please explain to the court why they're all conspiring against you to have you arrested?" She asked. Sweat was coming off her body rapidly, and she could feel her hair start to stick to her neck. She ignored it, though, and kept on going.

"I don't know," he responded innocently. "I could never hurt anyone."

In what might have been the worst timing for a defendant ever, Casey passed out right then. She hit her head on the corner of the defendant's stand, and a crack echoed throughout the courtroom. A collective gasp could be heard from the room's occupants.

Olivia and Elliot jumped up from the audience, and ran to their ADA's side. Even Langen left his post, and went to make sure his opponent was all right.

"Call a medic!" Judge Petrovsky yelled, and banged her gravel, "Court is dismissed!"

Olivia quickly put her hand on Casey's neck, checking for a pulse. She sighed in relief as it seemed normal. However, Casey was bleeding from the spot where she hit her head.

"Will she be okay?" Langen asked, hovering over the two detectives.

"Just get your client out, we'll handle it," Olivia told him. The defense attorney quickly complied with the detectives orders.

Elliot couldn't help but look up, and see the panicked expression on Lawrence's face as he was being led out.

"Today's your lucky day, pal," Elliot said to him, and turned his attention back to Casey. He placed a hand on her forehead, and found she clearly had a high fever.

The medics arrived in minutes, one of the benefits of courthouses.

"I'll ride with her," Olivia said. Elliot nodded.

"I'll call Cragen."

* * *

><p>Casey knew it wasn't smart to ignore the stomach ache she woke up with. She also knew it wasn't smart to continue her bike ride to work when she started to feel a bit warm. She knew it really wasn't smart to not drink anything that day.<p>

Those were just the beginning of all the unwise things she had done that day. When she realized the pain in her stomach became much sharper when she moved, that should have been her sign to go home. However, Casey was stubborn. She had dealt with pain that was much worse than a little stomach ache, and she really wanted to convict this Lawrence kid.

The last thing she remembered was she was cross examining that Lawrence. Now, she was waking up to a throbbing pain in her head. Once more, her stomach ache had gotten much worse. She realized she was in an ambulance.

"Casey," she heard Olivia's gentle voice, "Casey, how do you feel?"

As if by some sick force, the pain in her stomach got much sharper, and she gasped in pain. Her breath quickened.

Olivia gave her one of her hands, which Casey squeezed. Sweat was pouring off of her face, and she shut her eyes

"What…" her hand squeezed harder, and she let out a small grunt of agony, "...happened. What happened?"

Olivia brushed the sweat off of the girl's brow, and smiled at her.

"I wish I could tell you, sweetie."

They stayed quite, except for Casey's gasps of pain. Olivia kept her calm, as Casey tightly gripped her hand.

It was then that Casey's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she was out again. A loud beep could be heard from the heart moniter.

"She's coding!" One of the paramedics shouted. Olivia felt her heart skip a beat as they yelled that, and she let go of her friends hand. She gave the paramedics room to do what they needed to do to keep the lawyer alive.

She felt a wave of relief as the beeps on the heart monitor went steady. Casey was still alive. For now.

It left one question in her head. What the hell was going on?

* * *

><p>The moment they got to the hospital, Casey was taken away to see what was wrong with her, as well as get the stiches in the cut on her head. Olivia was now in the waiting room, praying that her friend would be okay.<p>

"How is she?"

Olivia turned around, and smiled as she saw Elliot come in. Olivia nodded.

"She woke up in the ambulance," Olivia explained, "she was in a lot of pain."

Elliot nodded, and sighed. He wished he didn't ignore her "my neighbor was having a party" story she had given him that morning. He never believed it for a second, but he didn't push further. She looked bad, but she didn't look like she was about to pass out. It wouldn't have been the first time someone came to work sick.

"Her heart temporarily stopped on the way to the hospital. Luckily, the paramedics were able to bring her back."

"What's wrong with her?" Elliot asked.

"I don't know," Olivia said, feeling slightly guilty. In a matter of twenty four hours, her friend had gone from perfectly fine to nearly dying. Last time she was at the hospital with Casey, she at least had the comfort of knowing what happened to her friend. It couldn't be any more different this time.

The two spotted a a male doctor come in. He walked up to them, and asked "Are you here about Ms. Novak?"

The two detectives nodded.

"Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor smiled at them.

"The head injury she sustained when she went unconscious will be fine. She's very luck she didn't get a concussion. However, we found she had appendicitis, which is what was causing her pain. She's having an appendectomy as we speak. However," the doctor's sighed, "Your friend's failing appendix might have saved her life."

"What the hell does that mean?" Elliot interrupted.

"We did a blood test when she arrived her," he explained, "Your friend was being poisoned."


	2. The Lawyer, Poisoned

The doctor, Dr. Clemens, had taken the two detectives into a private room to discuss their ADA's condition. They figured it was probably best. They knew that the media would be all over the case of the fallen ADA, and they didn't want their friend harassed by reporter on top of everything else.

The detectives took a seat, and listened.

"She was being poisoned by substance that is being called Levodine," he explained to them. Olivia raised an eyebrow. She had never heard of the stuff before.

"That sounds familiar," Elliot said, "I think I worked a case where someone was poisoned with it once."

"It's not your traditional poison," Dr. Clemens explained, "It's a homemade substance that weakens your eternal organs. I've had a few cases with it before. Luckily, it's a weak substance." He sighed, "I've probably seen at least twenty people come in because of it, and only two of them died."

"I see," Olivia said.

"Your friend had a small enough dose where it wouldn't have caused her too many problems. Nothing severe, anyways," the doctor sighed, "Unfortunately, the pain from her appendicitis combined with her weakened heart is what caused her little scare back in the ambulance."

"How long has it been in her system?" Elliot asked.

"It looks like she's been getting exposure to it for, I'd say, about a seven or eight days," the doctor explained, "The substance is so mild, just one dose alone won't do hardly a thing. It needs to be built up over time. If it wasn't for her appendix, you wouldn't have begun to see any major problems for another week or so."

Olivia nodded her head, and looked to Elliot. She was amazed by just how calm he was by the whole situation. She guessed that wouldn't be the case when they found the person doing this.

"How long will she be in the hospital?" Olivia asked.

"I'd say about six to eight days. Five if she's lucky," Dr. Clemens answered, "Normally, appendectomy patients only need to be in the hospital for twenty-four to forty-eight hours after the opperation. However, due to the circumstances, it's going to take longer for her body to recover enough to be discharged."

Olivia nodded, and let out a long sigh. She felt annoyed with herself. How had she not sensed something was wrong before? She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Elliot. He had a comforting look in his eyes, even though she knew he was just as upset about the situation as she was.

"I'll head back to the precinct to tell Cragen what's going on," Elliot said, "You wait for her to wake up."

"Right."

* * *

><p>This was definitely not how detectives Odafin Tutuola and John Munch expected to be spending their evening.<p>

The two of them were going through Casey Novak's credit card records, hoping to find the source of what might have poisoned the ADA. Unfortunately, the way they were going about it was pointless. They were just glad they weren't looking from something incriminating, because Casey Novak didn't leave much of a paper trail. It was clear the ADA tried to pay with cash as much as possible.

The only food items were her grocery store receipts. However, by looking at the amount of food purchased, they could assume one of two things. Either Casey didn't eat at home very often, or she was part plant and used photosynthesis to converted sunlight into food.

"Her last time at the store was two weeks ago," Fin sighed, "She bought apple juice, some bananas, and a gallon of rocky-road ice cream."

"Could it have been the ice-cream?" Munch asked, "A gallon of ice-cream can last a long time. Maybe she didn't start eating it for a few days?"

He was shooting in the dark, and he knew it. This whole thing was just a wild goose chase. She could have gotten poisoned from anything. They were only doing this, because they had absolutely nothing else to go on.

"No way it was the ice-cream," Fin said, "Remember a few days ago when she was in a bad mood because her freezer broke down on her?"

"Ah, yes." Munch remembered the incident. They had asked her to get a warrant, and she had nearly bit their heads off, yelling at them that they didn't have enough incriminating evidence. She apologized a few hours later, warrant in hand, and explained to them her situation with the freezer.

"I wonder what happened to all that ice-cream," Munch mused. Fin smiled a bit.

"Why do you think she was in such a bad mood?" The detective responded, "Have you ever had to clean a gallons worth of melted ice-cream?"

Munch couldn't help but laugh at the mental image. That certainly did explain her grouchy mood that day.

"So, unless she has the magic power of making a few bananas last fourteen days, we've got nothing," He stated. Fin sighed.

All they could do was wait until the techs came back from the ADA's apartment. They had gotten a warrant to check the food and garbage in her apartment. They knew the warrant was probably unnecessary, as everyone could have guaranteed that she would have given them the consent they needed to check her apartment to try and find what was poisoning her. However, to give consent, she had to be awake. Nobody was willing to wait for her to regain consciousness, and so they got a warrant. It was actually one of the quickest warrants they ever got. Judge Petrovsky had signed off on it, as she was just as concerned about the ADAs poisoning as the rest of them. The fact that she felt a little guilty about not catching Casey's failing health didn't hurt.

"Now we check out the people who Casey's pissed off over the years."

The two detectives both sighed, as they realized what that meant.

They now had the fun task at looking at every rapist, murdered, and child molester that Casey had convicted. And that was only at her time in SVU. She had prosecuted White Collar crimes before that, which was a completely different ball park. Every single one of them had a motive for wanting her dead.

This would be a very long evening.

* * *

><p>Olivia Bensen sat by Casey Novak's bed side, waiting.<p>

She was used to waiting by hospital beds. Throughout the years, she had waited by the bed-side of victims and co-workers alike. She could still remember that day was Casey was assaulted in her office, and she waited by her friend, wondering if she'd wake up.

Seeing the feisty lawyer in the hospital bed broke her heart. Olivia took comfort in the fact that the doctor said that everything would be okay. Although Casey's skin was still too pale for Olivia to be happy with, it was still better than the color it was earlier in the day.

Olivia looked around the room. In the corner, there was an older woman sound asleep in a wheel chair. She wondered if she should inform a nurse, but decided against it. Getting a nurse meant leaving Casey's side.

She heard a shuffle come from Casey's bed, and her heart skipped a beat. She was finally waking up.

The ADA groaned loudly, and shifted a few times. After what seemed like forever, she opened her eyes.

"Hey sweetie," Olivia gently greeted. Casey stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then turned her head towards Olivia.

"Where…" she paused, and her gaze went to the IV in her arm, "Am I in the hospital?" she asked. Olivia nodded.

"Yes," she answered. The detective decided she would wait for Casey to ask, before she would explain what happened. Olivia didn't want to just throw the situation at her.

"The last thing I remember was the Solomon trial," Casey said, trying to figure out what happened, "The defense just finished questioning, and it was my turn…now I'm here." A panicked look suddenly shot across her face, and she shot her glance Olivia, "I wasn't assaulted again, was I?"

Olivia gave her friend a comforting smile, and gently placed her hand on Casey's shoulder.

"No, sweetie," Olivia said carefully, "You passed out in trial, and were taken to the hospital. You had appendicitis."

Casey's face went from panic to confusion. She knew it wasn't as simple as that. She saw the look on Olivia's face. Something else had happened.

Olivia couldn't help but notice the sleeping woman in the wheel chair, and wondered if she shouldn't be moved. What if she overheard the conversation with Casey? Again, Olivia decided against getting a nurse. It would be rude to Casey to postpone this conversation any longer. Besides, the woman was sound asleep. Olivia knew that this was just her way of stalling this conversation.

"However," Olivia continued, and Casey felt herself get nervous. Her mind began racing all of the worst case scenarios. Casey could tell Olivia was picking her words carefully. "On the way to the hospital, your heart temporarily stopped."

"What?" Casey exclaimed, and jerked. She instantly regretted it, as a small shot of pain went throughout her body.

"The doctors ran a blood test, and we found out that you were being poisoned."

Olivia let the information sink in with the ADA. Her already pale skin seemed to go paler.

"Who?" Casey asked. Olivia shook her head.

"We don't know yet," she answered, but quickly added "but we'll find him."

* * *

><p>Elizabeth Donnelly walked by Casey's office, and sighed. The news had quickly spread around the courthouse about the ADA's situation. She felt weird passing by her office. Nobody knew what had caused the woman's sudden failure in health. All she knew was that Casey would be in the hospital for a while, and that Petrovsky had signed a warrant for her apartment. At least, that was the gossip that was going around. She was going to stop by Cragen's office later, and get the full story.<p>

As she passed Casey's office, she noticed something. The door was closed. Alarm bells started going off in the woman's head.

Casey never kept her door closed unless she didn't want to be disturbed. She knew the building had good security, so she was really concerned about anybody stealing anything. Since she was in the hospital now, Donnelly instantly had a bad feeling about the door.

She opened the door, and slowly peeked inside. Her eyes widened when she.

She got out her phone, and called the Special Victims Unit.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Ranowa Hikura, Sister of the Light, and VampirePrincess86 for reviewing.<strong>


	3. Her Office, Vandalized

It took everything Elliot Stabler had to suppress his rage. It wasn't enough this bastard had poisoned their ADA, but now her office had been vandalized.

It was weird, though. Everything had been turned upside-down. Her desk, the table, her chairs, everything. Whoever it was even managed to turned the bookcase upside down.

On the back of the room, there was a giant sheet of poster paper hanging up. Painted on were slightly ominous red letters, which read "Dear Casey, Thank you for everything. It was fun."

The techs were dusting the entire area for prints. So far, they had gotten very lucky in that part of the investigation. Different fingerprints were showing up everywhere. Elliot also took comfort in the fact that there was a security camera outside the room. It had caught Casey's assailant the last time, and hopefully it would this time as well.

"Elliot," O'Halloran called out, "You may want to see this."

Elliot walked over and found that the tech was holding a "Thank you" card. Elliot raised an eyebrow. What the hell was this guy trying to do? It had the picture of a little-girl smiling in a hospital bed, while colorful balloons around her read "Thank You!"

O'Halloran opened the card, which revealed a very formal red handwriting that read "Payback's a bitch."

Meanwhile, there were three coupons pinned inside. One was for an ice-cream place, one was Victoria's Secret, and the last was for a funeral home. Elliot could only stare at them, and try to figure out just what the hell they meant. If this guy was trying to send a message, it definitely wasn't a clear one, unless his message was "I want you to die of an ice-cream overdose while wearing a bra".

"What the hell is up with this guy?"

* * *

><p>Casey stared at the ceiling. Olivia must have been gone for about an hour by now.<p>

She looked at the clock.

8:02 PM

She sighed. Olivia had only been gone for ten minutes. Casey rested her head against her shoulder. She wished she forced Olivia to stay. Not because she wanted somebody to comfort her, but just someone to talk to. Of course, comfort in this situation wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Her head was starting to hurt from where she had hit her head, and she made a mental note to not be within head-hitting distance of corners when she was in trial. It was right above her mental note to not go to trail when she's not feeling well. With nothing else to pass the time with, all she had to do was focus on the parts of her body that was hurting.

"You'd think I'd be used to this by now," she mumbled to herself. She hated hospitals. She really did. Hospitals were where you went to be in pain, do nothing, and be a little loopy on morphine if you were lucky.

"You never get used to it," a voice said. Casey raised her head, and turned her head toward the voice.

It was the sleeping woman in the wheelchair, only she wasn't sleeping anymore. Casey wondered how long the woman had been awake.

She was bald, and had a scarf wrapped around her head where her hair used to be. Even her eyebrows were gone. She was small, and her bones could be seen through her skin. It was clear the woman was going through chemotherapy. Casey knew the symptoms all too well.

"So, you're the lawyer who fainted in court, right?"

Casey was slightly stunned by the woman's knowledge.

"How-"

"You're all the rage with the doctors," the woman said, interrupting the lawyer, "they've been talking to you for the past few hours. You hit your head when you fainted, you nearly died in the ambulance, and you had your appendix removed. It's all very fun and exciting stuff. It almost sounds like the plot of one of those stupid doctor shows," The woman's blue eyes twinkled, and a devilish grin crossed her face. Before Casey could say anything, the woman just said "You would be amazed how openly people talk when they think you're asleep."

Casey smiled. At least she knew she the hospital knew she existed.

"At least now when I'm alone for a few hours, I know I haven't been forgotten about."

As she spoke, Casey suddenly realized the last bit of information the woman said. The woman had said she pretended to be asleep. She looked fast asleep with Olivia was talking with her earlier.

"Were you asleep when-"

"Your friend was telling you about you begin poisoned? No. I'm pretty good at faking it, wouldn't you agree?"

"I guess," Casey responded, not knowing what else to say. Her jaw slightly dropped, and she couldn't hide how stunned she was at the woman's brashness.

The woman laughed at Casey's reaction.

"In my defense, I've been stuck at this hospital for the last three months. It gets boring."

Casey could certainly relate. She had only been awake for forty minutes, and she was already bored out of her mind. At least she was before this conversation.

It was then a male nurse walked in the room, and his attention quickly went to Casey's elder companion.

"Ms. Trudeau!" He exclaimed, "What are you doing here?" He walked quickly to the back of the woman's wheel-chair, and gave an apologetic look to Casey, saying "I'm sorry about her. She hasn't caused you any trouble, has she?"

"Nope." Casey said, smiling. It was a lie. The woman had eavesdropped on a private conversation. However, Casey didn't mind. It wasn't as if the woman would use the knowledge of her poisoning for evil purposes. Besides, her small conversation with the woman was enough to get Casey to forget about her rather serious situation.

"Let's take you back to your room," the male nurse said, in a tone that people use when talking to children.

"Oh, can it Michael!" The woman said, "No need to talk to me in that tone. The cancer is my breasts, not my brain."

As he wheeled her out, the nurse turned his head back around at Casey and mouthed "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>"How's the search going?" Olivia asked, as she walked into the precinct. In her hands, she was holding a tray coffee and a bag of Chinese food. Detectives Munch and Fin grinned at the sight.<p>

"The woman brings life!" Munch exclaimed. Olivia sat on her desk, and placed the bag down, reveling five take out boxes.

"Take whatever one. They're all the same."

Munch grabbed a box a cup, and went back to his desk. Fin quickly followed.

"How's Casey doing?" Fin asked. Olivia gave a small smile.

"She took the news much better than I thought she would," she replied. Her face went serious again, as it was back to work, "So someone broke into Casey's office?"

"Yep," Munch said, "Elliot just finished up. He'll probably be back here in about ten minutes. They think we might get a finger print on the guy."

"If he's even in the system," Fin added.

Olivia nodded her head. So maybe this wouldn't be as hard as she originally thought.

"How about people who'd want to harm her?" She asked, "Anything that points to them?"

"Fun fact," Munch started, taking a bite of his dinner, "Did you know that four out of every seven criminals Casey convicts have threatened her on some level? And that's a significant decrease from the six out of seven who threatened her when she worked in White Collar."

"Suits don't like to lose their money," Fin stated.

Olivia sighed. At least they had a finger-print to go off of.

All they could do was keep looking through the files, and hope that the fingerprints would turn up something helpful.

* * *

><p>"We've got a hit off the finger print!"<p>

Olivia's head snapped up, and she realized she had fallen asleep on her desk during the night.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Elliot said, handing her a cup of coffee. She gratefully took it.

"What's this I hear about a hit?" Olivia asked, taking a much needed sip of the caffeinated beverage.

"According to O'Halloran, the fingerprint on the card matches a Thomas Porter," Elliot said, handing a file to Olivia. Olivia eagerly took it, hoping that it might explain this whole situation.

"He was arrested a few years ago for solicitation of a hooker, but the charges were dropped," she read. That certainly didn't give them much for a motive. "He is currently has an internship at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office."

Olivia felt a weight come off her shoulders. This was definitely the news she needed. Later, she would go visit Casey to see if the woman knew why this "Thomas Porter" wanted to harm her.

"Let's go pick him up," Olivia bounced out of her seat, ready for this to all be done and said.

However, before the two detectives could leave, Cragen came out of his office and shouted, "Olivia. We need to talk."

The two could see from his facial expression that this wouldn't be good.

"I'll go pick up Thomas. You deal with that," Elliot said, and left.

* * *

><p>Olivia sighed, as she walked into the office. She closed the door and took a seat. She examined her boss. He looked concerned. At least he wasn't mad at her about something.<p>

"When you left Casey from the hospital, she was stable, right?" He asked. Olivia's stomach began to churn. She had a bad feeling about this.

"Yes sir," she replied. Cragen sighed.

"And the doctor told you he would call if anything in her condition changed, right?" Olivia nodded again. What the hell was he leading at?

"Yes," she said, "He said that Casey was going to make a full recovery, and he would call if something happened. What is this about?"

Cragen took a deep breath, and clenched his fists. He handed her a newspaper for that morning.

"Then what the hell is this?"

Olivia looked at the newspaper, and felt her heart sink. She gasped.

The front was covered by a photo of the paramedics taking Casey into the ambulance, and sure enough. However, it was the headline that got to her.

_ADA COLLAPSES AT TRIAL, DIES IN HOSPITAL_

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you VampirePrincess86, Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, dove in love, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, justliziam, and karenina bubo for reading and reviewing. You guys are great.<strong>


	4. The Interns, Pranked

Olivia rushed to Casey Novak's room. Her only concern was on her friend. Every worst case scenario played out in her head. What if the newspaper had been right and Casey really did die when she left. Casey's conditioned had turned from fine to deadly once in the past twenty-four hours. Who was to say that it didn't happen again?

She thought back to when Alex was shot. It was reported in the news that she died, and days later, Olivia found out she had been whisked away to the Witness Protection Program. She prayed that wasn't the case.

Olivia got to Casey's room, and clenched her fists.

Casey's bed was empty.

* * *

><p>"I would never hurt Ms. Novak!"<p>

Thomas Porter was a tall, skinny kid without a muscle to his name. His blond hair was neatly combed, and he wore a pair of think-rimmed glasses. Elliot could definitely see why he chose poison as his method of killing. If he had tried hurting the ADA using anything that required physical contact, Casey would probably have killed him. In fact, he imagined that if the kid tried to physically harm anybody who was older than nine, he would end up in a morgue.

"See, Thomas, the problem here is that we have your fingerprint on a card that says you do," Elliot explained. He was actually going to enjoy watching this kid break.

Before he went in for the interrogation, Huang had given him a psychological profile.

"Judging from the poison he chose and how long it takes for anything to really happen, I'd say he wanted to enjoy watching her health deteriorate, slowly but surely. He relished in the control he was having over her life," Huang had said, "However, since she went to the hospital sooner the expected, he suddenly lost that control. I'd say vandalizing her office was his way of showing he still had power over her."

Elliot had nodded his heads at Huang's words, and glared at Thomas through the window. The kid's eyes were darting around nervously, and his body glistened with sweat.

"How do I break him?" Elliot had asked. Huang looked at him, and gave him a smile.

"Just be yourself."

* * *

><p>Casey Novak had found herself wondering the halls of the hospital. She couldn't stand how boring it got in that room.<p>

She didn't like the fact she was using a wheel chair. Her body was still weak, which wasn't helped by the fact that she hadn't had any real food since her stay at the hospital. She was supposed to get a liquid meal later in the day, if the doctor's decided her body was strong enough to handle it. The wheel chair had an IV line attached to it, something she was grateful. She knew from experience how hard it was to wheel around a wheel-chair and an IV line at the same time.

As Casey passed a room, she heard a kind of mumbling sound. She couldn't tell if somebody was talking or singing. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, and she decided to look.

She grinned as she saw the sounds were coming from the lady from yesterday. The woman smiled as she walked into the room.

"Well, if it isn't the poisoned lawyer," she greeted, "I see we've changed places. Now you're in the wheel-chair, and I'm in bed."

"Nice to see you again too," Casey replied. The woman took in a deep breath.

"I apologize for my horrible singing you probably heard," the woman said, "You see, the doc gave me a tad bit of morphine, so I'm a little out of it."

"It's fine," Casey smiled, "It sounded just fine."

"Liar."

Casey couldn't help but wonder if she had come into the room, because she subconsciously recognized the woman's voice. When she was around the woman, she felt happy. She was the most interesting thing in the hospital. Casey thought back to the previous day. If she remembered correctly, the nurse had called her "Ms. Trudeau". Casey didn't know if she heard correctly, but she figured it was better than referring to her than "That woman in the wheel-chair".

* * *

><p>Elliot dangled the Thank You care that was left at Casey's office, and pointed to the kid's fingerprint.<p>

The kid's already pale complexion turned even whiter.

"This isn't what you think."

"Oh, it isn't?" Elliot asked in mock surprise, then slammed the card on the desk, "Then what the hell is it?"

Thomas swallowed nervously, and was slightly shaking.

"It..." he made eye contact with Elliot, a move he soon regretted, "It was a prank!"

"Prank?" Elliot asked, "You think poisoning somebody then vandalizing their office to taunt them is a prank?"

"No sir!" Thomas practically shouted.

"Then you have no excuse!"

The intern's breath quickened, and he was sitting as straight as his body could allow. He stayed silent. Elliot smiled.

"If you don't want to talk about these crimes, why don't we talk about the ones in your past," Elliot went behind him, and grabbed him lightly on the shoulder, "Soliciting a hooker, huh? You couldn't get any by yourself, so you just decided to pay someone for it."

"Those charges were dropped," Thomas muttered quietly, "I wasn't asking her for…sex, sir."

Elliot laughed.

"What else do you ask for?"

"Directions."

Elliot remembered reading about that part in the case file. Apparently, the kid's boyfriend had come and explained away the situation. After seeing his sexual orientation, he was released with no mark on his record. If Elliot had heard about that case before this incident, he would have laughed at the misunderstanding. However, with the evidence against him now, Elliot wanted to go back to the officers who dropped the charges and slap them upside the head for being so naïve.

"The officers before may have believed that, but you can't fool me," he said, lowering his head down to the intern's ear and grabbing his shoulder harder. Thomas winced, but didn't speak up, "I think that you saw Casey as an attractive woman and decided to try your luck. Being the smart woman that she is, she turned you down, and this has been your little method of payback."

"No sir," Thomas said, "I mean, Ms. Novak is pretty and all, I mean, she has perfect skin. I even told her that the first time we met, sir. I asked her what she used, and when she asked if I was flirting, sir, I said no. I don't like her in that kind of a way."

The kid was babbling now. Elliot guessed he was close to his breaking point.

"So maybe she was too hard on you as intern, then," Elliot gripped harder, "She assigned you some simple task that you couldn't accomplish, so you decided to get your revenge? Is that it?"

"No sir! I promise you I'm telling the truth!"

* * *

><p>"So, when you collapsed in court, what kind of a case where you working on?" Trudeau asked her. The woman leaned forward in her bed, and folded her hands together like a child eagerly awaiting a bed-time story. Casey sighed, remembering the case. She hoped her sudden health failure wouldn't result in a mistrial.<p>

"I'm not allowed to talk about it," Casey replied.

"Right, right. Attorney-client privilege and all that jazz," Trudeau sighed, "You know, your poisoning might have been karma. Lord knows us defense lawyers have racked up enough voodoo to cause Armageddon."

Casey raised an eyebrow, and let out a small laugh.

"I'm actually a prosecutor," she said meekly. Trudeau laughed heartily at Casey.

"I figured you were one of the smart ones," the woman said, a mischievous smile on her features.

"Excuse me?" Casey asked. She was proud of her job as a prosecutor.

"You do know that's the only difference between the prosecution and defense, right?" Trudeau explained, "Defense lawyers are the brains, while prosecutors have the hearts."

Casey was intrigued by the statement. She liked to think that she used intelligence to work her cases.

"What does that mean?"

"Think about it, dear," Trudeau responded, "Prosecutors like you piss of bad people for a living. Defense attorneys like me are paid lots of money by them."

It was a good point. Casey guessed that she made in a month what Granger and other high-priced attorneys made in an hour.

"I guess," Casey responded, and thought about the statement, "You're a defense attorney?"

"And a damn good one," Trudeau responded, "I'll have you know, I've successfully defended some of the biggest scum in Massachusetts. I was opening a branch out here in New York when karma caught up to me and gave me cancer."

That explained why Casey never heard of the woman before.

"So, what kind of cases do you prosecute? Narcotics?"

Casey smiled. She liked talking about her job.

"I used to prosecute White Collar crimes," Casey explained, "Now I'm the ADA with the Special Victim's Unit."

"Aren't all victims special?"

Casey laughed.

"I prosecute sex crimes," she explained.

The woman's face went from cheerful to serious the moment she said that.

"A lot of good that does," she scoffed. Casey was slightly confused by the woman's change in demeanor.

"…Excuse me?" The woman scowled at her.

"You don't prosecute cases because the victim is unreliable, or because some father claims their kid is making up the charges because they are mad at them, or the 'statute of limitations' ran out. When you do prosecute, you only lock them up for a few years. It's a load of bull."

Casey didn't know what to say. She didn't expect that kind of reaction to her job. Just a minute ago, they were joking around and having a good conversation. The moment she said she prosecuted sex crimes, the woman turned on her. She could only think of one explanation.

"Ma'am," Casey started out, treading lightly, "Were you…um..."

"No, I not molested as a child, and no, I was not raped. I've never even had a drunken one-night stand!" She screamed at her, and pointed toward the door, "Leave! Get the hell out of here!"

The woman burst into tears, and turned away from Casey. Casey's jaw dropped slightly, and she wheeled herself out, realizing she was not welcome in the room.

She decided to go back to her room, finding the thought of the boring little room oddly comforting. She spent the time thinking over the conversation in her mind, trying to figure out what she said that upset the woman so much. A part of her felt like crying, but she didn't.

"Casey! Thank god!" A voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Casey realized Olivia was standing by her door, looking very relieved. She was slightly concerned over Olivia's reaction.

"Did something happen?"

* * *

><p>Olivia walked back into the squad-room, content with her trip the hospital. While the whole situation annoyed her, she was just glad that it was nothing more than a false report. She was also glad this hadn't turned into a repeat of Alex Cabot. She didn't think she could handle another friend going into the Witness Protection Program.<p>

She was going to make a trip later to ask Casey about Thomas Porter to get some answers on why the intern had a grudge against the prosecutor. She was going to ask while she was there, but Casey didn't want to talk about her case. She just wanted a bit of peace, and Olivia respected her wishes.

"How's Casey?" Fin asked, as Olivia sat at her desk. She smiled at the detective.

"Just fine," Olivia said, "Annoyed, but fine."

It was then that her eyes spotted someone walk into the room. She was a girl who looked to be in her early twenties. She was short, brown hair in a pony-tail, and nervous looking. Olivia prayed another rape case wouldn't land on her. The last thing she needed was more stress.

She walked up to the two detectives, and took in a deep breath. Her hands were clutched together, as if she was afraid.

"Is this the Special Victim's Unit?" she asked. Olivia got up from her desk, and went to the girl.

"Yes, sweetie. How may I help you?"

The girl took in a deep breath.

"My name is Chell Panos; I'm here about Thomas Porter," she said, "I'm another intern at the District Attorney's Office. Was he really arrested because of what happened to Ms. Novak?" The girl seemed generally concerned for her friend. Olivia placed a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm afraid so, sweetie."

"Is it because of what happened to Ms. Novak's office?" She asked. Olivia nodded.

"His fingerprint placed him at the scene," Olivia explained. The girl took in a deep breath, and clutched her fists.

"Oh god," she muttered, looking desperately at Olivia, "You have to let him go. This is all my fault!"

* * *

><p>Chell sat down in the chair, and took a large sip of water. Olivia had decided to take the girl to somewhere more private where they could talk.<p>

"What did you mean when you said this was your fault?" Olivia asked. The poor girl had tears about to come in her eyes.

The girl sniffed, tears starting to roll down her eyes, "Us interns get pranked on a lot. Everyone in that building has gotten us at least once," she said, and took another small sip of her water, "Eight days ago, Ms. Novak took us all into her office, and told us that if anybody pranked her better then she pranked us within the next week, she would take them out to the Pazzo Villa."

Olivia recognized the name. Apparently, it was one of the nicest new restaurants in the city. The food was supposed to be to die for.

The tears were coming down Chell's face harder, "She said if the prank was really good, she would talk her boss into letting one of us sit second chair in a low profile trial." The girl let out a loud sob, "That would be such an amazing opportunity, so we figured we would all work together to do a really good prank."

The girl broke down at this point, as Olivia was processing the information that was told to her. She considered the possibility that Chell was lying to get her friend out of trouble, or the two were in this together. However, the girl seemed pretty genuine.

"How did Casey prank you?" Olivia asked. It was a question she never had to ask in a case before.

"She tricked all of us into thinking we needed to write a thirty-two paged paper for Donnelly on the Killebrew Method, and it was due the next morning. She pretended somebody had forgotten to inform us, and that it was mandatory for us to keep our internships."

"I've never heard of the Killebrew Method," Olivia said. Chell smiled a bit, the waterworks slightly calming down.

"That's because there's no such thing," Chell said, "Killebrew was a baseball player, though. We spent the entire night trying to figure out just what the hell the Killebrew Method was. We went in tears to Ms. Donnelly's office, apologizing for not having the paper done, only to find that she has no idea what we were talking about."

Olivia had to suppress a laugh, as the mental image of a bunch of frightened interns desperately trying to write a paper on something that didn't exist. It was mean, but it was amusing.

"Ms. Novak was so cool," Chell said, "she taught us so much." Olivia saw the waterworks start to come back, "The office was my idea, don't let Thomas get in trouble for that. Ask any of the other interns. I'm the mastermind behind the office! Arrest me, not him. "

The girl completely broke down, and the waterworks came heavier than ever.

"I can't believe Ms. Novak is dead!" the girl cried.

Olivia sighed, put a comforting arm around the crying girl. She would kill whoever printed that newspaper article.

She would have to go back down to the hospital, to make sure the girl wasn't lying about the pranks. It was very possible that since everyone thought Casey was dead, nobody would question them when they said vandalizing her office was a prank.

However, judging from the girl's crying, Olivia had a feeling that wasn't the case.

In other words, they were back to square one.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you VampirePrincess86, dove in love, Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, PeaceMariiPeace, W. S. C. Magica De Spell, and justliziam for reviewing!<strong>


	5. The Lawyer, Threatened

"So you're telling me that whole mess in Casey's office was really just a prank?"

Donald Cragen stared down the three men in the squad room, annoyed with the entire situations. Olivia was lucky enough not to be in this group chat, because was she was visiting Casey at the hospital again, hoping to get some helpful information. He didn't like that it had already been twenty-four hours after Casey had gone to the hospital, and every lead they had turned into a dead end.

"Munch and I interviewed the rest of the interns," Fin explained, "They all gave the same 'it was a prank' story, and that Casey told them if they got her better then she got them, she'd talk to the DA to get them second chair on a case."

"They said that all of them vandalized the office," Munch continued, "They claimed that they all went in at different times of the day to flip something over, so nobody would get suspicious. Their fingerprints were all over everything, and the security camera outside Casey's office show's all of them going in there four times each ."

Cragen sighed, and rubbed his eyes. This case had everyone on his back. If it wasn't enough that he already got his ass chewed up for the false-story in the paper, but it was going to happen again if he had to report that the team investigating the attempted murder of an Assistant District Attorney had absolutely nothing.

"How do we know the interns aren't in on this together, and made up the prank story so they'd appear innocent?"

"I talked to some people at the DA's office," Elliot said, "They confirmed that the interns were pranked on a pretty regular basis. They even keep a record of the best pranks pulled on the kids."

Cragen nodded, but it still didn't mean that the kids had made some of their story up.

"They thought Casey was dead when they told us about Casey's bet with them," Cragen said, "Do we have her word to confirm this?"

"Liv's talking to her now."

Cragen took in a deep sigh.

"Do we have anything back from the food gotten from her house?"

The three detectives simultaneously shook their heads.

"Crime labs found no traces of Levodine in any of the food at her house," Munch said.

"Hey, is this the SUV unit?"

Everyone's attention was turned to three teenaged boys, one light skinned blond boy, a tanned boy with shaggy black hair, and a black boy with his head fully shaven. All three seemed very relaxed, more relaxed who walked into that precinct was.

"SUV?" Elliot asked in an annoyed tone, raising an eyebrow. They didn't even know the name of where they were. Nobody had time to be dealing with this crap.

"You idiot!" The blond boy said, hitting the tan boy on the arm, "It's the USV unit! An SUV is a car."

Elliot sighed.

"What do you guys want?"

"Are you detective Elliot S…" the black boy paused, trying to think of the name.

"Stabler," Elliot finished dryly. He turned to face the rest of the team, all of them curious as to why these boys were here.

"Right! That's it!" The black boy exclaimed. Elliot sighed.

"We were told to give this to you," the blond boy said, holding out a wrapped box.

The box was wrapped in a shiny pink wrapping paper, covering in tiny multi-colored hearts. Fin and Munch snickered, while Cragen just raised an eyebrow. Elliot sighed, trying to figure out the odds that this was Kathy's doing.

He reluctantly opened the box, sending a glare at the three boys. The torn wrapping revealed a shoe box to a designer woman's shoe store. He took the box off, as the snickering from the detectives increased.

However, as he opened the box, his annoyance with the situation was quickly replaced with anger.

"Captain," he said, "You need to look at this."

Inside the box were various pictures of Casey Novak, a lot of them looking like she had no idea the picture was being taken, as well as many newspaper clippings.

However, what concerned him the most was a small syringe in the middle of all of it.

* * *

><p>Olivia had the unfortunate timing of getting to the hospital right as the doctors gave the ADA some morphine. Olivia realized that she had a limited amount of time to ask the ADA questions, before she her mind wondered off to trippy-hippy land.<p>

"Did you tell a group of interns that if they pranked you better then you pranked them, you would take them out to the Pazzo Villa and possibly talk to the DA about letting them sit second chair in a trial?"

Olivia realized how choppy her sentence was, but she didn't want to waste any more time.

"Yeah," Casey said, smiling, "Why? What did they do?"

"You should really close the door to your office," Olivia replied. She had the crime scene photos of the vandalized office with her, and handed them to her friend. Casey smiled as she looked through them, and chuckled.

"Did you arrest them?" Casey asked.

"No," Olivia replied, "Although, Elliot installed the fear of god into that Thomas kid. We had to call a cab for him and that Chell girl, who were so hysterical they couldn't make it out the door. They all thought you were dead."

Casey burst out laughing, handing the photo's back to Olivia.

"They seriously left me coupons for ice cream, lingerie, and a funeral home?"

"Yes. Chell told us that one of them had a giant book of coupons, and the decided to pick the most random ones she could fine."

Olivia nodded, not liking how this conversation was leading off. As nice as it was to see Casey happy, she needed to get as much information out of her friend as possible. However, it was hard to re-direct the conversation with Casey's laughing.

"It's like the universe decided to prank them," Casey mused, "This is probably the most well thought-out prank intern has thought of, and it all goes to hell because I got poisoned and they all become suspects. That's just great!"

"Have any of them handled your food or drink?" Olivia asked. Casey nodded.

"I've had them get me coffee a couple of times, but that's about it," Casey replied, still giggling a little bit.

"Is there anywhere you've been getting food consistently for the past eight days?" Olivia didn't like the fact that this was the first time asking that questions. It was something that should have been asked the minute she told the woman that she was poisoned. However, Casey was so out of it back then, she never got the chance.

Casey took a deep breath, a thought.

"Mazurka's Soup," Casey said, and started giggling again. Olivia sighed, as she realized the morphine was kicking in. Luckily, at least now they had a location where the poisoning could have happened, which was better then nothing.

"Did they tell you how I pranked them?" Casey asked. Olivia smiled.

"Yes."

Casey's laughing increased.

"You should have seen the looks on their faces when they found out I made the whole thing up," she laughed, "It was priceless."

Olivia rubbed Casey's shoulder, smiling herself. Casey's pale skin started to get a little color to it, and the ADA winced.

"Laughing hurts so much," Casey giggled, and started laughing some more.

The next five minutes were spent with Casey laughing morphine took over. Olivia knew the morphine had fully kicked in when Casey said "If I was a superpower, I would totally have plant heroes. I'd kick ass!" Casey then pointed out how nice Olivia's hair looked now that it was pink. Olivia had to suppress her laughter, and decided she should leave before she was given too much to give the ADA a hard time about.

As she left the hospital, she felt slightly content. They now had somewhat of a lead, and if they were lucky, they would catch the guy. Olivia slightly chuckled to herself, Casey's drugged state fresh on her mind.

However, her good mood didn't last, as she saw a little piece of paper tucked into the car.

"You've got to be kidding me," Olivia said out loud, thinking the piece of paper was a ticket. "What cop in their right mind tickets another cop?"

She didn't see how she could have got a ticket. She was in the hospital's parking lot.

Olivia picked up the piece of paper, and her eyes widened.

It was a newspaper clipping, with the words written on it.

_You know nothing about what's going on here, do you?_

Olivia flipped the paper over, revealing a picture of Casey. On it, a large red target was drawn on, and something was written on the bottom.

_Even William Tell misses the apple._

Olivia ran back in to the hospital, getting her phone out to call Cragen.

Whoever wanted Casey dead was here.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, dove in love, karenina bubo, VampirePrincess86, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, FuturamaDinosaur, and EnforcerAndAccurserFan for reviewing!<strong>


	6. Their Trash, Valued

Olivia sprinted back into the hospital as fast as she could, her only concern being Casey. Why did she leave her alone like that, when they knew there was a psycho out to get her? The clipping must have been just left on her car. She might have even passed the guy walking through the door.

"Back so soo-" The nurse at the front desk tried to say as she quickly rushed in. Olivia didn't let her finish. She needed to get to Casey.

To her relief, as she got to the ADA's room, the woman was fine. The prosecutors eyes were glued to the ceiling and a look of aw was exhibited on her face. She looked like a child who was seeing Disneyland for the first time. A very large, pale, malnourished child.

Olivia almost forgot why she panicked in the first place, seeing Casey as she was. Almost.

She took out her phone, and dialed Cragen. Even if Casey wasn't currently aware of it, her case had gotten much more serious.

* * *

><p>Mazurka's Soup was a relatively new place, only being around for about a year. It was a small building, but something about it just seemed peaceful. Through the windows out front, everyone in the building seemed happy and calm, a trait rare anywhere in New York.<p>

This was the only lead they had, however, detectives Munch and Fin were just hoping this wouldn't turn out to be some wild goose chase. Casey had named this place while morphine was taking over her mind. That being said, Olivia hadn't said how far gone Casey was when relaying the information.

"I wonder what Casey's like when she's high," Munch mused, as they looked into the building. Fin grinned, and shrugged.

"Who knows," he replied.

"But you worked in narcotics. If anyone on this unit knows what drugs do to people, it's you."

Fin's patted his friend on the back, and sighed.

"There are two things you learn. Everyone reacts differently to different drugs,"

"And the other thing."

Fin's grin grew.

"When someone you know gets high, it's the most hilarious thing ever."

Munch laughed. They would have to visit Casey later. Of course, there is the possibility that she wouldn't be on morphine. In that case, they would be professionals and get some information from her.

The two detectives walked into the soup place, and looked around. It was a wide space, with many tables filled with content soup-eaters. At the back of the room, there was a counter, with a smiling blond woman standing behind it.

"Welcome!" She greeted, cheerfully, "I've never seen you two before. You must be new. Come have a look!"

The detectives raised an eyebrow at the woman's brash positivity, and walked over.

"Actually, ma'am, we're not here about soup," Fin said, as the two detectives flashed their badges. A confused look crossed the woman's face, but she still smiled.

"My name's Patricia Greeley. What is it I can do for you, sirs?" She asked politely. Her perkiness level and dropped, now that she was talking to cops.

"Has anyone named Casey Novak eat here?" Munch asked. A look of sorrow crossed the woman's wide eyes, and the detectives could feel her cheerfulness radiating of the woman go down a couple of notches.

"Yes, sir," she said, "She was always very friendly. We'd always have nice conversations. It's so sad she's dead."

The detectives grimaced at the thought of the false newspaper article.

"Actually, the newspaper lied," Munch said, "She isn't dead, she's just in the hospital."

A look of relief crossed the woman's face, and her cheery smile returned.

"Oh, thank God!" Patricia exclaimed, "I look forward to her coming in. She's such a nice person."

"How often does she eat here?" Fin asked. The cheery-blonde's smile grew

"Every day!" She replied, "We have a wonderful variety of soups, and we change the menu daily. She's always getting something new."

"She's come here every day for how long?" Munch asked. This was good to hear. If she has been eating here daily, then there is a good chance that this might be the place poisoning the girl. They might finally have an actual lead.

"I'd say she's been coming in consistently for the past couple of weeks. Yesterday was the first time she didn't come. Normally if she can't come in herself, she'll send someone to get it. When there was no sign of her yesterday, I got worried."

The timeline was consistent with the time-line of when the poisonings occurred. Unfortunatly that was the only thing linking the place to the poisonings. However, it was definitely a start.

The tricky part would be figuring out how to prove this is where Casey was being poisoned. Both detectives realized this, but it wasn't impossible.

"Can you get us a list of when Casey ordered her food to go?" Munch asked. Patricia nodded.

"Of course!" she said, scurrying off to a computer.

Both detectives figured that the only evidence they would be able to find would be in the remains of the ADA's take out, and even that was a long shot. However, if they could figure out where she ate those days, and if by some miracle the trash hadn't been taken out, they could have the link they needed.

"Here you go," Patricia said, handing the detectives the list. The two smiled at her.

"Thank you," they said, and walked out the door.

* * *

><p>Elliot had spent thirty minutes since receiving the box interrogating the three dumbasses who handed it to them. After causing all three to nearly wet themselves, Cragen had pulled him out and explained what happened with Olivia at the hospital. Cragen told him to go calm down at his desk, and that he would finish talking to the boys, as Elliot had reduced the three to tears<p>

The three boys claimed that someone gave them the package, and paid them two-hundred dollars each to deliver it. Even though that was obvious that they had no idea what they'd gotten themselves into, Elliot was frustrated. This person was taunting all of them, and the worst part was they had no idea who it was. Elliot kept himself from punching a wall, by visualizing finding this guy, and beating the hell out of him.

He still couldn't get over the fact that Casey was a victim now. He had to keep telling himself that it could have been much worse. Casey wasn't dead, and she hadn't been sexually assaulted. Fin and Munch were checking out a possible lead on where the poison came from, and the package that was sent to the headquarters was being checked for fingerprints and DNA. They also got a warrant to check the security cameras outside the hospital, to see if they could get a face off of who left the newspaper clipping at the hospital.

"Delivery for Olivia Bensen,"

Elliot sighed. For the sake of this delivery man, this better not be anybody taunting them about Casey.

"She's not here," Elliot said, turning to the man, "Who sent the package?"

The man shrugged.

"It's not my job to know," he replied, and place a small box on the detectives desk, "Is this her desk?"

Elliot reluctantly nodded, and the delivery man left. He got up, and grabbed the small package. He didn't think about her privacy, the case being the only thing on his mind.

He opened the box, to reveal a CD was for a classical music CD, of some pianist. Inside, there was a card.

_Thank you for the good time. I hope to do it again soon  
><em>_XO _

Elliot side. A few days before all of this happened, Olivia had gone on a date with someone to the symphony. In other words, Elliot had just invaded her privacy for nothing.

He sighed, sitting back down at his desk. She'd probably understand. At least, he hoped his partner would. It was a very stressful time. He would owe her a coffee.

After a few more minutes, the three boys went running past him, not looking at him as they went for the exit. Cragen followed, and turned towards Elliot.

"They agreed to talk to a sketch artist about who gave them the package," he said, his eyes falling on the opened package on Olivia's desk. He sighed, "Don't tell me-"

"Don't worry. It has nothing to do with the case."

Cragen nodded, and smiled.

"She's not going to be very happy with you for invading her privacy," Cragen said. Elliot nodded, and sighed.

"Excuse me for being paranoid when we're delivered suspicious packages."

It was then that the sound of a cell phone ringing could be heard from Elliot's pocket. He picked it up.

A flash of light flashed through the window, and the two detectives were greeted by the sound of rain.

Elliot couldn't help but smile a bit. As the crash of thunder was heard, he couldn't help but think that the weather matched his mood perfectly.

It was then that his phone rang. He eagerly answered it, hoping that somebody found something good for once.

"Stabler," he answered.

It was Munch, reporting the news of their little excursion to the soup place.

"_She's had soup from there consistently for a couple of weeks_," he had relayed, "_She ate her lunch to go on Monday, Thursday, and the day before yesterday. If we can find the trash, we might be able to prove that's where she's been getting poisoned."_

As the detective was talking, Elliot realized something. He remembered the day before Casey got sick, they ate lunch together while talking about the Solomon case. She had eaten lunch _in the squad room_.

"Damnit!" Elliot swore, hanging up the phone. He went to the small trashcan by his desk. It was close to being overflown, and Elliot had been meaning to take it out. He was suddenly very glad he didn't.

"Elliot, what is it?" Cragen asked, slightly concerned.

Sure enough, Elliot pulled out a white paper to-go bag, with the _Mazurka's_ written out formally. Opening the bag, he saw a plastic spoon, a few napkins, a half-eaten piece of stale bread, and an old soup container, with little drops of soup still in it.

* * *

><p>A rush order was put on the to-go bag and its contents. This was the evidence they needed to catch whoever had hurt Casey. Everyone in the crime labs were working especially hard, as they realized how important this was. The team had spent hours impatiently waiting for the results, hoping that they finally had the lead they needed.<p>

Once during their wait, they had gone to visit Casey in the hospital. It was a short visit, however, as the ADA was out cold. None of them could stay long, as the prosecutor looked dead while she slept. Every little move she made was a relief to the worried team, and so they left, unable to stand seeing their friend in that state. They would visit again tomorrow, with the hope that they could come by with good news the next day.

Now they all sat in the squad room, filling out paperwork from old cases. None of them knew which cases, though. As far as they knew, they could have been filling out a "Put in your personal information here, and you could win a car!" forms.

Fin would occasionally head down the morgue to talk to Melinda, unable to take the pressure of waiting. At one point, Kathy Stabler had come in with a dinner for all of them, as she understood how hard they were working on this case. However, the time went on, and still no news came.

Just when they didn't think they could wait any longer, the call from the crime lab came, which Elliot had quickly picked up. He was met with the news they all had been waiting for.

"_There are traces of Levodine in the remnants of the soup."_

Elliot Stabler couldn't help but smile. It was the lead they had been waiting for.

To think it had been next to his desk the entire time.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you VampirePrincess86, JeffHardy724, Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, dove in love, and Thinker in Love for the reviews. I think it is safe to assume that I have the most awesome reviewers on this site, I hope you all know that. Thank you all for waiting. It's been a bit of a hectic week, so I hope this chapter makes of for the wait.<strong>


	7. The Victims, Multiplied

The team had found their lead, and they were running with it.

"We know Casey to Muzurka's directly, so we know that it has to be someone working there that's poisoning her." Elliot announced.

"From the employ list given to us, there are fourteen people who work there," Munch added, "Out of the fourteen, five worked have worked every day for the past three weeks."

They nodded. They knew that one of those five people poisoned Casey. They were going to get this guy, if it was the last thing they did.

"We have the computer labs looking at the security tapes of the hospital parking lot, and we have a sketch artist working with the boys who delivered that package." Elliot continued.

"Munch and I will go interview those employees," Fin said.

"And we'll look at their files, see if any of them had a grudge against Casey."

The team was in full battle mode now. They were going to find out whoever hurt their friend, if it was the last thing they did.

* * *

><p><em><span>Aaron Sorweid <span>_

The kid very relaxed, despite being interviewed by the police.

"I've seen her in there a couple of times," he explained to Munch, "I don't really pay attention to the customers. I just clean dishes. I'm saving up money for a Europe trip with my high-school."

* * *

><p>Casey Novak stared at the ceiling, and she realized all the morphine in her system had officially worn off. It honestly sucked. Although she would never be a drug user in her professional life, being in the hospital was a different story. At least when she was high, her mind was easily amused.<p>

"Being confined to a hospital room is so much easier as a kid," Casey said to herself, "Everything is new and exciting, and you don't have to talk to yourself for your own entertainment."

She had gotten the news that she would get to eat actual food for dinner that day. However, it would be a liquid dinner. She would be eating soup, a cola, and ice cream if she was lucky. She would have been very thrilled by this, had Olivia not told her earlier that it was Muzurka's soup that had been poisoning her in the first place. It was her favorite place to eat, too.

She started to hum to herself. It was a familiar tune, but she didn't know the name of it. She was sure it was from some musical. Her brother had been in so many musicals as a kid, she had many show-tune melodies stored in the depths of her memory that always seemed to make their way to the surface when she was in boring situations like this.

"Who will buy my sweet red roses," an older voice sang, "Only two for a penny."

Casey looked at the door, to see Ms. Trudeau. The woman smiled at her, something Casey was not expecting. After the woman had lashed out at her the other day, she didn't expect to see her again.

"That song brings back memories," she said, "I saw Oliver on Broadway three times. It was my favorite show. Do you mind if I sit with you?"

* * *

><p><em><span>Lily Rubin<span>_

A woman in her twenties, who was a bit jittery. Of course, being interviewed by the police probably wasn't how she saw her day going.

"Is this about the lawyer?" She had asked. Munch nodded.

"Did you ever serve her meals?" Munch asked her. The woman quickly shook her head.

"She always came in on my lunch break," she replied, "Am I going to jail?"

* * *

><p>"So you really opened my mail?"<p>

Elliot sighed. He knew this would come up.

"I was paranoid, after all the weird things that had been sent to us. Sorry."

Olivia laughed at her partner, and smiled at him.

"It's fine," she said, "Seeing the circumstances, I can't say I wouldn't do the same."

Olivia picked up the CD, and smiled.

"I'll have to listen to this when I get home,"

Elliot nodded, and went back to his research. He was convinced Olivia would chew out his ass for that one. However, she as just as concerned for Casey as he was. He hoped they would figure out this mess soon.

"Hey, I think I've got something," Olivia said, picking up the piece of paper, "Arty Kensington…"

* * *

><p><em><span>Vanessa Nack<span>_

"I have to tell you, officer, this is the most exciting thing that's happened to me all year."

Fin nodded, suppressing a grin. The woman gave him a friendly grin.

"Is this the part where you ask me where I was the night of whenever whoever was murdered?"

"Nobody's died yet," Fin replied, "Did you know Casey Novak?"

"The lawyer chick," Vanessa smiled, relaxing on her chair, "She was hot. I would have asked her out if I thought she was into…well, you know. I think Arty was going to ask her out."

* * *

><p>"I would like to apologize for my behavior yesterday," Trudeau said, suddenly. It was out of the blue. For the past ten minutes, they had been having a conversation about zoo animals.<p>

"Oh, right," Casey said, remembering the venom in her voice as the woman snapped at her.

"It wasn't me talking, it was the morphine. I get moody when they put me on the stuff. You, on the other hand, are much more pleasant to be around when doped up."

"You were here?" Casey asked. The woman chuckled to herself, and nodded.

"I was going to apologize, but you were too busy talking to the colorful farm animals on the ceiling."

Casey blushed, hoping none of her co-workers had come to visit her in that state. She would never here the end of it.

"Anyways, I am sorry for the way I acted. It was incredibly rude of me. I guess you could say I have some un-solved issues with sex crimes," the woman sighed. Casey noticed the sorrowed look in the woman's eyes as she said the last part, and bit her tongue. She wanted to ask, but it wasn't her place.

"By the way, I'm the one who told that reporter you died."

Casey's eyes widened. That wasn't what she expected the woman to change the subject with.

"What?"

* * *

><p><em><span>Patricia Greeley<span>_

The woman wasn't a cheery as she was the last time they'd met. Not even close.

"You really think one of my employees tried to harm Ms. Novak?" She asked, concern layered in her voice. Munch nodded. He had a feeling that the woman could have hired a person with blood all over their body, and believe it was paint.

"Did any of them seem particularly interested in her?"

The woman stared down at the table, thinking.

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing, but Arty always gave her this weird look when she came in."

"Weird how?"

Patricia shrugged.

"I don't really know how to describe it," she replied, "Like, he knew her from somewhere. It was as if-"

The woman paused, and a look of horror crossed her face.

"Oh no…" she sighed, rubbing her head. Munch was interested.

"What does that mean?" he asked. The woman's gaze went towards the ceiling.

"Arty's dad was convicted for something money related about five years ago," she explained, "The family lost everything. He said he went from being high class to nearly living on the streets. Casey said she worked white collar crimes before…I never put it together. Arty was such a nice kid. I didn't think he could do anything like this."

* * *

><p>"Damn reporter was sniffing around the hospital, no respect for people's privacy. He didn't care there was a woman who almost died in a hospital room trying to recover, he only saw a big story."<p>

Casey was still stunned. She knew she would go home to messages from friends and family desperately trying to find out if she was alive. Because she wasn't home to answer her phone, she was sure there were people already trying to find out about her funeral arrangements. So far, the newspaper hadn't admitted their mistake.

"So you told them I _died_?"

"Not exactly," the woman replied, "I went up to him and asked him 'Are you here about the lawyer in that room'. I pointed to your room and he said yes. I told him the lawyer in your room died, and even though the doctors did everything they could to save her, she croaked."

"That's a really stupid move for a lawyer," Casey said. The woman laughed.

"It wasn't a lie, though," she said, "The lady in here before you really was a lawyer, and she really did die. I only said the lawyer in your room; he never bothered to ask who. It's his own fault for not double checking his story."

Casey had to suppress a grin. In a way, it was almost a really bad prank.

* * *

><p>"Arty Kensington, twenty-three. The son of Edward Kensington. Five years ago, he was convicted for his role in a large pyramid scheme. The family lost everything, and our little ADA was the prosecutor on that case."<p>

It was almost over. They finally had a good suspect for the crimes.

"Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest identified his picture as the one who paid them to deliver the package," Elliot added, a grin on his face. He couldn't wait to bring this guy in. It was all going so well. Everyone on the team wanted to walk into Casey's hospital room, and announce they had found her would-be killer.

"According to Patricia Greeley, he was a regular costumer at Mazurka's, and applied for a job two weeks after Casey started coming in," Munch said. It was looking very good for them. Finally. All they had to do was bring him in, and get him to confess. It would be easy.

It was then Cragen came into the room, a solemn look on his face. The team looked at him. They had a feeling this wouldn't be good news.

"Patricia Greeley was just found beaten and raped. She was just barely alive. She's on her way to the hospital now."

"Was it Kensington?" Olivia asked, clenching her fists. Just when they were getting good news, this had to happen.

Cragen sighed.

"Maybe, but that's not all," he continued, "Judge Lena Petrovsky was just admitted to the hospital for a heart attack. Guess what was found in her system."

"Levodine," Elliot sighed. He hit his desk, suppressing a frustrated yell.

"Elliot and I will go pick up Kensington," Olivia said, looking at her partner. She could understand his frustration. Just when they found him, his acts had sent not one but two more people to the hospital.

"I guess we'll check in on our newest victims," Fin said, sighing.

This newest information would either make this case easier, or harder. On one hand, if Arty had left DNA, then they had him for that. On the other hand, now they had to link him to Petrovsky.

And so the chaos continued.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you dove in love, Ranowa Hikura, Sister of the Light, W.S.C Magica De Spell, VampirePrincess86, and pineapplegrl77 for the reviews! As I've mentioned before, you guys are cooler then a ice rink. I love you all for it.<strong>

**Please tell me if I have any blazing grammar errors, here. It keeps me from getting sloppy, and it helps me always give you all the best, because that's what you deserve.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	8. The Lawyer, Comforting

"Fin, nice of you to show up," Casey greeted, as the detective walked into her room. She was glad he could show up. A nurse had wheeled Ms. Trudeau back to her room about ten minutes ago, and Casey was getting bored again.

"I've got some good news, and some bad news," Fin greeted, and sat down on the edge of Casey's bed. "Which would you like to hear first?"

In Casey's experience, when someone gave both good news and bad news, the good news would always be small in comparison to the bad news.

"Whatever order you see fit," Casey responded, and smiled.

"The bad news is we've got two more victims on our hands," Fin stated. Casey closed her eyes, and sighed.

"Lovely," she said sarcastically. She clenched her fists together. "Anybody I know?"

"Judge Petrovsky was just admitted with a heart attack, Levodine was in her system," Fin said. Casey sighed.

"Is she going to be okay?" She asked. Fin smiled and nodded.

"She'll be out of here sooner than you."

"Lucky," Casey said, "They still haven't made it clear when I get to leave. Three days at the least."

"Sorry," Fin laughed. He knew how annoying stays at the hospital could be.

"Well, I've had hospital stays much longer than this, so I guess I can't complain too much," Casey smiled. "Who's the other victim?"

"A woman by the name of Patricia Greeley. She was raped and beaten by the person we think poisoned you."

"Oh god," Casey mumbled to herself. She was more devastated by that then she was by Petrovsky's news. She knew the woman. She was there every day she went to get soup. She owned the place. Every day she went, they'd managed to make polite small talk.

"The most cheerful person in the world gets raped and beaten," Casey groaned, rubbing her forehead, "I guess I should feel lucky it wasn't me, but still."

"Do you want to know the good news?" Fin asked, seeing Casey's reaction. It was understandable. That woman was probably one of the most helpful people he'd ever dealt with in an investigation. Now they were waiting for her to wake up.

"Please."

Fin smiled at her. He felt happy he was the one who would get to tell Casey the news that they knew who poisoned her. Everyone back on the squad wanted to do it.

"We think we know who poisoned you," Fin said, "Does the name Arty Kensington ring any bells?"

Casey sat in the bed, thinking. Fin could see the light bulb go of in the woman's head.

"I remember, when I worked in white collar, I prosecuted against a man named Edward Kensington."

"Arty's his son," Fin responded. Casey nodded, and a small smile crossed her face.

"Now that I think about it, Petrovsky was the judge on that case."

Fin smiled. That was the news he wanted to here. It was all the more evidence against this guy.

It was then that a nurse popped her head in the room.

"Mr. Detective?" she greeted him, "Ms. Greeley is awake, if you want to speak with her."

Fin looked at Casey, who nodded at him to go.

All they needed was her ID, and Arty Kensington would go away for a long time.

* * *

><p>"This week as certainly turned into a giant crapshoot from hell, hasn't it?"<p>

Munch stood in the hospital room of a understandably peeved Lena Petrovsky.

"Phrases you never thought you'd hear from a judge," Munch said, jokingly. Petrovsky let out an irritated sigh.

"So let me get this straight. Casey Novak and I were poisoned, because some spoiled rich boy was upset that we convicted his father as a criminal five years ago?"

"That would be correct."

"Damn this all to hell," Petrovsky sighed, "I don't even know if I was the judge on that case. White Collar crimes all start to meld together after a while. The only thing I could probably tell you for sure, is that this kid's father was most likely a slime spewing bastard. Clearly, an inherited trait."

Munch was actually amused by seeing he judge as riled up as she was.

"What evidence do you have on the kid?"

Munch grinned. He knew that as a judge, it was Petrovsky's job to not be biased. However, she was a victim instead of a judge this time.

"We have the remnants of Casey's lunch with traces of Levodine, as well as motivation and the fact he worked every day she went to get soup. We also have three witnesses, who identified him as someone who sent us threats against Casey."

Petrovsky nodded.

"That should be enough to nail him,"

"We might also have him on rape," Munch added. A horrified look crossed Petrovsky's face as Munch said the words.

"Don't tell me Casey was-"

"Not Casey," Munch quickly said, "It was the woman who lead us in the direction of Arty Kensington in the first place."

"I see," Petrovsky took a deep breath. Munch could see she was still riled up by the situation, but was much calmer then she had been about it.

"One last question," Munch said, "If we showed you his picture, do you think you could tell us if he ever came into contact with your food?"

* * *

><p>When Fin Tutuola worked in narcotics, he would walk through the city, and be amused with the fact that he could easily tell the difference between people who were and weren't on drugs.<p>

Now, he was sorry to say that he could easily tell apart the people who had been raped. He hated it.

He looked at his rape victim in her hospital bed, it being a site he were used to. The site of a woman who had just been through an act of pure evil.

They looked at Patricia Greeley in her hospital bed. It was hard to believe that just a few hours before, she had been very helpful in catching their friend's would be murderer. This is how the universe thanked her for be troubles. Being raped and beaten half to death.

Luckily, the rape kit had tested positive for fluids. With any luck, it would help add an extra twenty years in Arty's prison sentence. They simply needed to get the woman's permission to use it.

It was easier said than done, when the woman in question was understandably hysterical.

Fin honestly didn't know what to do. He still wasn't the best at dealing with victims. He was trained as a narcotics cop, and was used to pushing people for information. Gentle wasn't really his style.

She deserved to cry. However, there was the small part of him that wished she would calm down for just a minute. A minute was all he needed to get her permission for the rape kit, as well as the possibility of her IDing her attacker.

However, Fin saw that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

He wondered if he should have stayed with Casey, while she cried. Then again, she probably didn't want to be left alone right now.

Fin didn't blame her.

It didn't help that Fin, despite his years working at SVU, still wasn't the best at handling hysterical victims. The only one in the squad who seemed to be good at that was Olivia. That being said, Casey did have her fair share of consoling crying victims.

That when it hit him. Casey was here. She would probably be much better at this he was. It might even be helpful. She would be a familiar face to the woman. A familiar face who knew how to deal with rape victims. It was perfect.

* * *

><p>Munch sighed. Petrovsky didn't really recognize Arty Kensington's photo. She had simply said "He looks sort of familiar. I can't say from where, though."<p>

It didn't matter, though. They were going to get Arty Kensington either way.

"Detective, can I speak with you?" A doctor asked. Fin still wasn't around. Munch guessed that he was still speaking with the victim.

"Go ahead," Munch said. The doctor nodded, and led him down to a bench. The two sat down.

"We did some more tests on Ms. Petrovsky's blood, and found that the she has only been exposed to Levodine for a few days." The doctor informed him.

"Define 'a few days'," Munch said, raising his eye brow.

"Two days. Three days at the most," the doctor responded.

That was how long Casey had been in the hospital. Munch sighed.

He thought back to the package sent to the headquarters, and the newspaper clipping found by Olivia. He realized that those things were merely decoys. While they were focusing on that, they were completely blind to the fact that judge Petrovsky was the target.

He pulled out his cell phone to call Cragen. They needed to get this guy sooner rather than later.

* * *

><p>Casey had quickly agreed to help Fin out interviewing the victim. It was something productive she could do to put away her would- be murderer. Of course, she realized she had to be careful. She had to use words that couldn't be argued she was leading the victim. One wrong word choice, and the defense could argue that since she was told who the suspect in her case was, she used it to lead the victim to her conclusion.<p>

Ideally, Fin would be the one to do the talking. However, there was the possibility that the woman would want Casey to do all the talking.

Casey clutched onto the detective's arm, as he led her to the room of the victim. She hadn't walked in three days, and her body was still very weak. However, she didn't want to be in a wheel chair.

Casey sighed, as she saw the condition of the woman. Bruises and cuts were all over her body, and the woman's blond hair was matted around her face. Several places around her face were swollen, and her face had become blotchy from her crying.

Casey swallowed. If this was the same guy who tried to take her life, she realized the scene in front of her could have very well been her.

"I'm so sorry," the blonde choked out, "I can't…I-"

Casey pushed away from the detective's arm, and sat on the corner of the bed. She remembered back to when she was assaulted in her office, and Olivia was there in her room to comfort her while she cried. She knew the importance of having a friend after a traumatic experience. The only reason she wasn't hysterical this time around, was because she hadn't been physically injured. She didn't have bruises on her body she would see to remind her of her experience.

"It's okay," Casey said gently. She smiled at the woman, "I know you're hurting, and I know you're scared, but everything will be okay."

The woman looked directly into Casey's eyes, and tried to force a smile.

"Right," she nodded, and took in a deep breath. She sniffed, and wiped away some of the tears in her eyes. She winced, as she had bruises on her hand as well. "I can't believe he did this."

"Who?" Casey asked, looking to Fin. Patricia Greeley sniffed again and crossed her arms.

"Arty," she said, "I was closing the shop, and he came in all angry at me. He was angry that I told the police what I did." More tears came down her eyes, "I was only trying to help. He said he'd make me pay!"

Fin nodded. It was official. Arty Kensington was there guy.

"I'm going to need you to make a statement, Ms. Greeley," Fin said, slightly reluctantly.

"Can it wait?" Patricia choked. Casey looked at him, a determined look in her teary eyes.

"Of course," Fin said, "Casey, do you-"

"I'll stay here," Casey said, before he could finish, "Go talk to Munch, tell him what you know." Fin nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

As Fin left the room, Patricia's crying increased. Casey sighed, and pushed herself off the bed. Using it to hold herself up, she made her way to the front. She knelt down by Patricia Greeley's side, and gently grabbed onto her hand.

The woman responded by grabbing on tighter.

"It's okay," Casey soothed, "Everything will be okay. He will never hurt you again."

In that moment, Casey could only think one thing.

She hoped Arty Kensington burned in hell.

She was just mad she couldn't be the one to put him in jail, where he belonged.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, pineapplegrl77, its vamp (AKA VampirePrincess86), W.S.C. Magica De Spell, karenina bubo, 7Seven7, Kimblee Whitehead (x7), dove in love, and LiveLoveLikeMe for the reviews. As always, all of you are amazing and wonderful.<strong>

**I apologize for not having this up on Monday like I thought I would. I would have had this up yesterday, but I forgot I had a chiropractor's appointment. But here it is. **

**Thank you very much for reading, everybody. As always, it's appreciated.**


	9. The Chase, Futile

Casey sighed. Patricia Greeley had finally cried herself to sleep, and Fin had been nice enough to escort her back to her room. Munch was at the bed already, waiting for the two.

"Counselor," he greeted.

"Detective," Casey said back. Munch held out his hand, and the two detectives helped her back into her bed. Her damn bed. She only had a few more days left in the hospital, and then she was free to go.

"We need to go help arrest Arty Kensington," Fin said, as the ADA made herself comfortable, "Are you okay by yourself?"

"Yeah. Go on," Casey said simply. The detectives said their goodbyes, and left her in her room. She couldn't wait until she could be the one leaving.

She had no idea how she should be feeling. She was still pretty shaken up from her moment with Patricia. She had interviewed raped victims before, but she'd never interviewed them the moment after getting raped. How could the detectives do it? They were re-living the experience while it was fresh in her mind. The people she'd interviewed had time to process what had happened. Patricia was still in shock.

This was all over the Kensington case.

"Bastard," she muttered. She remembered that case. It was one of her most memorable of white collar cases. She could remember Edward Kensington. The smug look on his face, and the way he treated everybody around him like he was better than them. She'd never even seen the kid. The only reason she knew what he looked like, was because he gave her soup. Now, his son was trying to kill her and Petrovsky. The thought that Patricia could have been her scared her.

She hoped they caught him soon. She pictured the look on his face as a jury quickly announced he was guilty on all charges. It was a good thought.

* * *

><p>Elliot grinned, as he stood outside the door. He had memorized Arty Kensington's face. He was a tannish kid with dark brown hair, and smug brown eyes. Every photo he saw of Arty, the kid had smug brown eyes.<p>

"You ready for this?" Olivia asked. The two partners stood outside Arty's door. They had their warrant.

"You bet your ass I am."

Hey barged in the apartment, with no intention of being polite.

However, the apartment was empty.

"Damnit!"

The two side, as they looked around the empty apartment. They couldn't do this. They bad finally found out who was trying to kill their friend, only for this.

* * *

><p>Olivia sighed, looking at the CD on her desk. She hadn't gotten a chance to listen to it. Hell, she hadn't been home for the past four days. She had been using the precinct's cots for the her little power naps. That would be the first thing she did, Olivia decided. Sleep, and maybe just a little bit of alcohol for good measure.<p>

A bolo had been put out on the Kensington boy, as well as a notice to the Canadian border controls. Olivia was hopeful they'd find him. He wasn't exactly the smartest criminal around. Every crime he committed, he left some type of evidence. With luck, he would be pulled over for speeding, or hit by a bus. Preferably, the last one.

"Detective Bensen!"

Olivia looked up and smiled. Standing in front of her was Chell Panos, the intern. She was smiling, a complete contrast from the hysterical state she had been in beforehand. In her arms, she was struggling to carry two large bouquets of flowers, as well as two "get well soon" teddy-bears. Olivia could see it was taking all the girl had to keep the items in her arms.

"You can put those on the desk, if you want."

Chell smiled, putting the items down. She sighed in relief.

"Thanks," she said, "Is it true you know who hurt Ms. Novak?" Chell asked. Olivia nodded.

"All we have to do is arrest the bastard."

Olivia couldn't help but smile as Chell's grin grew.

"That's great!" Chell smiled, "Anyways, I don't want to waste too much of your time, so I guess I'll say what I came here to ask. What hospital is Ms. Novak staying at?"

"She's staying at Mercy, hun."

"Awesome," Chell smiled, "The rest of the interns and I pitched in to buy her these flowers and the teddy bear, and I offered to buy and take it to her, since I finished all my work for the day. While I was buying them, I decided to gets some for my sister, too. My sister is also at mercy, so it saves me a trip."

It was then a ring could be heard coming from Chell. She laughed, and pulled out her cell phone.

"Excuse me; I have to take this," the intern picked up her phone, "Hello?"

Olivia looked at the bouquets of flowers. They were all different colors and types, everything from blue daisy-like flowers to pink roses. That would probably make Casey's day.

Olivia looked further, and saw a card on one or the bouquets. She read it.

_To Casey, Our Supreme Master of Law, Pranks, and Badassery.  
>May whoever tried to strike you down rot in deepest pits of hell.<br>Your loyal intern servants._

Olivia laughed. Casey was certainly going to appreciate that. Olivia couldn't help but wonder if the interns gave her that title, or that's what she was having them call her now.

"What?" Chell cried out over the phone, "...Okay, okay. I'm on my way. Hang on just a second," Chell put the phone to her chest, and looked desperately at Olivia.

"I have an emergency I have to take care of," she explained, "Could you please deliver these to Ms. Novak for me?"

Olivia nodded.

"Of course," she said, "I could take the ones to your sister as well, I'd you-"

"No, don't," Chell finished for her, grabbing a bouquet and teddy-bear with her spare hand "I'm not going to make someone else visit my sister in my place. But thank you so much, though. For everything!"

She maneuvered her items so they were tucked under her arms, and put the phone back to her ear. She was out the door in a heartbeat.

"Alright, I'll handle it. Just trust me," Chell said into the phone as she left.

Olivia smiled. She needed that encounter. It was a light she needed to keep her from going insane about this case. She just needed to remind herself they would catch Arty. They just had to.

It was then Elliot rushed through the room.

"Liv," He said, "Computer crimes is getting a trace on Kensington's phone. He's right outside the building."

* * *

><p>Fin was on his food break. He didn't want to leave the case for a second, but his stomach started to complain. There was a deli within a block on the precinct, and he figured if anything happened, he could be back in a heartbeat.<p>

He felt lucky he could be eating solid food, at least. Thinking back to Casey, that seemed to be the one thing she was missing the most. Not that he could blame her. To her, that was probably just another irritating thing in an annoying situation.

"Detective," a familiar voice said. Fin looked up from his chicken sandwich, and smiled.

"Melinda," he greeted. The medical examiner also had a sandwich in her hands, and was still wearing her scrubs.

"May I join you?"

Fin grinned, and gestured for her to sit down.

"So, we haven't seen much of each other with this case," she said, starting to unwrap the paper casing of her sandwich, "Not that it's a bad thing. I honestly don't want to be looking into Casey's innards."

Fin chuckled. That fact alone was what had kept the team going. Casey didn't actually die. She was still alive and semi-well.

"Me too," Fin said, "I don't really want to talk about my case. What have you been working on?"

"You really want me to be talking about the gruesome details of bodies while we eat?" Melinda chuckled.

It was then, Fin saw it. Standing behind Melinda, ordering food, was a man he had seen in videos and photos enough times to recognize.

"Excuse me," he said, placing his food down and walking towards the counter. He needed together a better look, but he was sure the kid ordering was Kensington. He had that same curly brown hair, that same pale skin. He just needed to see his face.

"Arty Kensington!" Fin called out with authority. The kid turned around, a face like a deer in the headlight, swallowed nervously. Sure enough, it was Kensington.

The kid dashed towards the door. Fin maneuvered his way around tables and people, determined not to let him get away.

As he got out the door, he could see the kid running in the distance. The kid was fast. Fin put all his strength into running. He needed to.

He could see the precinct coming up in the distance. This was just great. The kid had run right past a building where everybody inside was working their asses off it find him, and nobody but him knew he was right outside.

He could easily call somebody right now. That would be the smart thing to do, even though it would slow him down. He was just barely keeping up with the kid already.

As the entrance to the building was coming up, Fin made a dash. However, what he didn't count on was somebody to be coming running out of the door. Fin didn't have time to react to this, and ended up plowing right into her.

She screamed, and a bouquet of flowers and a teddy-bear went flying into the air.

"Damnit!" Fin swore, looking at the girl he ran into. He recognized her as one of the interns from Casey's office.

"I'm so sorry, detective!" she shouted out, scattering to get her stuff. Fin sighed and looked into the distance.

Arty was long gone.

He figured he could call the detectives now, inform them of what had just happened, but what would be the point.

It was then Elliot and Olivia came rushing out of the building, and stared at the site below them.

"You just missed him," Fin groaned. He looked at his hands. They were scrapped at the top where he caught his fall.

"I'm so sorry, again," Chell sighed, and jumped back to her phone, "Sorry. I ran into somebody. Where are you?"

She nodded her goodbye, and quickly ran off again.

The detectives could only sigh. They almost had him.

"All check with computer crimes, with any luck, he's still on the phone."

Fin and Olivia nodded.

The determination to get him only increased.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you its vamp again (AKA its vampVampirePrincess86), Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, dove in love, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, 7Seven7, Kimblee Whitehead, DianeNealFan26, and karenina bubo for reviewing.**

**I am so sorry about the wait on this stupid thing. It's like the universe didn't want me to post this chapter. I could go into all the grueling details, but I'll spare you. I have to make this quick, because I have to leave to put a boat in the water soon, and I want to post this. Take that, Universe! This chapter is posted.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading. I will do my best to not make the next chapter a wait like this one was. On the bright side, you guys only had to wait about a week, right?**

**Fayth**


	10. The Lawyer, Supported

Time seemed to meld together when staying at the hospital. While it felt like she had been staying at the hospital for years, it still felt like yesterday she was preparing her case for the Lawrence Solomon trial.

"You know, I never did get your name."

Casey smiled. It was a voice she recognized.

"Casey," she said, smiling, "Casey Novak."

She turned to face her elder friend, glad to have some company. The woman had made this one of the more enjoyable visits to the hospital. Although she would still do anything to eat solid food and sleep in her own bed, at least she had somebody to talk to.

"Cassie Novak?" she asked.

"Casey. Casey Novak," Casey corrected, smiling. The woman gave her a gentle smile, and wheeled her chair closer.

"Oh. Sorry," she said, "One of the fun side-effects of my chemotherapy is the weakening of my senses."

"I understand."

"I've never told you my name either," the woman said, "My name is Rose. Rose Trudeau."

Casey smiled at the woman's name. She knew the last name, because of the nurse, but she didn't have a first name to put to the face. Of all the first names, it was that one.

"Rose was my mom's name," Casey said, a grin crossing her face as she thought of the woman who raised her. The woman chuckled.

"You don't say?" Rose Trudeau said, "That's funny. My daughter's name was Cassie."

Casey's grin grew as the woman mentioned that. The universe certainly had some sort of sense of humor.

* * *

><p>Olivia realized this was the first time she had gone back to her own apartment in three days. She wasn't even going to be staying that long. She had just come to change her clothes and drop of the CD that was delivered to her. Then she would go right back out to crying to catch Arty Kensington before he caused any more damage. Maybe she'd go visit Casey in the hospital and brief her on what happened. Although, according to Fin and Munch, she already knew it was Arty who made the attempt on her and Judge Petrovsky's life. She probably didn't want to hear that he had gotten away because Fin had plowed into Chell. She didn't need the stress.<p>

She secretly hoped that she would be the one to take him down. It may of seemed selfish, but she wanted the glory of being the one who stopped him. She could just imagine herself tightly placing him in handcuffs, and reading the bastard his rights as everyone watched on. She could just imagine him staying in the tombs.

It was then that she got a call on her cell phone. She prayed it was a location on Arty.

"Olivia," she answered desperately. Sure enough, it was Elliot.

_"Liv!"_ He called out to her on the phone, _"We've got a trace on his cell phone."_

"I'm on it," she said, determinedly.

There was absolutely no way they were going to let him escape again. Not on her life.

* * *

><p>Elliot was beginning to think that Arty Kensington was an idiot. He suspected that the only reason he'd gone this long without being apprehended was that they weren't treating him like an idiot. They had been treating this case as if he was some sort of brilliant criminal mastermind, as opposed to a spoiled brat of a kid who decided to take it out on the people he thought screwed him over. He had been doing a horrible job of covering his tracks. The rape kit on Patricia Greeley had come back, and sure enough, he had left his present. They had enough evidence to put him in jail for a very large chunk for of his life.<p>

Which is what made the fact they hadn't caught him yet that much more annoying.

However, this time would be different.

Arty Kensington had made another very stupid mistake.

Using the GPS on his cell phone, they had found out he was hiding out in the closed Mazurka's Soup. It would have been brilliant. The place was closed for the day, due to what had happened to Patricia Greeley, and so there was nobody around who could turn him in. He could easily hide out there and move locations when the place was going to open again. In the long time it would take for the place to open again, the police would assume he skipped out of the country, and put their efforts into something else. It would have been a great plan if he hadn't been stupid enough to call somebody for twenty minutes.

So here they were in their squad car, ready to storm the building to arrest their man. Other teams of cops surrounded the building as well. There was absolutely no way that Arty Kensington would be getting away this time.

"You ready for this?" Elliot asked with a determined smirk on his face. He had been picturing this moment as much as Olivia had. Olivia grabbed onto her gun, and smiled.

"Let's nail the bastard."

The two partners got out of the car, and made their way towards the building. Bystanders all around them were wondering what was going down, looking to see if anything exciting was going to happen. The two ignored them. Assuming Arty didn't try to do anything incredibly stupid and dangerous, there would be absolutely no problem with them there.

As they cautiously made their way to the door. As they reached the entrance, then gave each other a nod, and burst in the building.

The room was empty as far as they could see. Of course, that was expected. The current room was surrounded by windows to see from the inside.

"I'll look over here," Elliot said, "You look in the kitchen."

"Got it."

Olivia crept towards the kitchen, her gun ready to fire. She constantly looked around at her surroundings, fully realizing that there was a chance Arty would pop out at her with a gun.

As she walked in the kitchen, she saw and arm on the floor, behind the stove. Olivia's grip on her weapon tightened, and she quickened her pace over to the area. Had Arty gotten actually managed to kill someone this time? Her heart rate increased, and she hurried to check it out. She prayed he hadn't killed anyone yet.

As she got a good look at the person on the floor, she gasped.

It was none other than Arty Kensington himself.

Olivia sprang into action, kneeling down the check his pulse. He couldn't be dead now. As much as she wanted him dead, he needed to be brought to justice by a jury of his peers. Patricia Greeley, Judge Petrovsky, and especially Casey. They needed to see the jury read the sentence of "guilty on all counts". Casey would have it no other way, and she was the one he tried to kill.

Arty wasn't dead. The moment she touched his neck to check his pulse, he jerked at her touch. His eyes shot open, and he screamed as he saw her on him. Olivia smirked.

Before he had a chance to struggle, Olivia grabbed him by the shoulders and flipped him onto his stomach.

"Arty Kensington, you are under arrest for attempted murder, rape, and assault," she said, as she brought his hands together to be cuffed. There was nothing more satisfying than the snap the cuffs made as they clicked his wrists together, "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"Liv, what's?"

Elliot came in the room, just as Olivia was finishing Mirandizing him. Elliot smiled, walking up to his partner and their culprit.

"We got you now, you bastard."

* * *

><p>"I think if the doctors really screw the pooch and one of us dies, the one who is still alive should go to the other's funeral."<p>

Rose Trudeau's out of the blue statement's never failed to amaze Casey.

"What?"

"Well, the doctors say that my cancer is actually looking pretty good, and I think your body is recovering from your ordeal pretty well. I'm sorry if I'm wrong. But, should the doctors really screw up and one of us die, which is a possibility, the other should go to the funeral. Then we'll at least know one person is there."

"What makes you think if we die, we'll die alone?" Casey asked, intrigued by the woman's bold statement. Rose Trudeau only laughed.

"We're lawyers, dear. We don't exactly make friends for a living."

Casey chuckled. It was kind of true.

"My family would come to my funeral," Casey said. For some reason, the thought of her brothers crying at her death made her grin, "I know for a fact my brothers would pay their respects."

"What about your parents?" Trudeau asked. Casey sighed.

* * *

><p>Olivia walked proudly through the hospital. As much as she wanted to see Elliot's interrogation of Arty, she wanted to be the one to deliver the news of his arrest to her friend. The glory of being the one to cuff him wasn't enough, she decided. She wanted to see Casey's face as she told her of the accomplishment.<p>

However, as she walked into the door, she could see that Casey was already talking to somebody. Olivia could see the back of a woman in a wheelchair. The only reason she knew it was a woman, was because of the pink scarf wrapped around her head.

"My mom died of Leukemia five years ago," she heard Casey say. Olivia raised her eyebrow, trying to make herself hidden. She realized this was probably a bad time to come in the room. However, she never knew that Casey's mom died of cancer. She never mentioned that before.

"And your dad?" the woman in the room with Casey asked. She heard a sigh come from the lawyer.

"Also dead," Casey explained, "He was coming home from the store one night and caught two stupid kids beating on another kid. He went to break it up, and one of them pulled out a gun and shot him."

"I'm sorry," the woman said.

"You know what the worst part is?" Casey continued, "It was his first anniversary with my mom since she died. My brothers and I had all come out to visit him so he wouldn't be alone that night. We were planning a giant dinner. The only reason he had gone the store was because he had forgotten to get potatoes."

Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Casey had never told her any of this. She rarely mentioned her family life.

"That's life, darling," the woman she was talking to said. Olivia heard a chuckle coming from Casey.

"No kidding."

Olivia had no idea if she should go in the room. If she went in, Casey might think that she overheard her private conversation. Although, she did overhear the conversation, and it would be unfair to Casey if she didn't inform the prosecutor that she knew these facts about her life. However, what if Casey didn't want her to know? If she wanted her to know, she would have told her. Olivia realized she should have left the moment she realized Casey was in a private conversation.

She decided to go back to the precinct. She would tell everybody that their friend was fast asleep, and that she didn't want to wake her.

"My friends would definitely come to my funeral," she heard Casey say, "I never thought I'd say this, but my best friends are the detectives I work with."

Olivia heard a harty laugh come from the woman Casey was talking to.

"Seriously?" she asked, "In all my days in law, I've never seen a prosecutor get along with the cops."

"Yeah," Casey laughed, "I'm positive that when the newspaper article about me being dead came out, everyone in the white collar division celebrated. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if it had been one of them who tried to kill me."

"But you get along with the sex cops?"

"They're the best people ever," Casey replied, "I don't know how I ever did my job without them."

Olivia smiled as she heard the words come from Casey's lips. With more determination, she walked in the room, acting like she didn't hear a thing. She acted surprise when she made eye contact with the woman.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Olivia asked. Casey smiled at her.

"Hey, Liv," she greeted, "This is Rose Trudeau."

"I'm her hospital buddy," the woman known as Rose said. Olivia smiled.

"Anyways, I only dropped by to tell you we got him. Nothing big."

Casey's eyes widened as Olivia said the words.

"You…caught him?"

Olivia's grin grew. She saw the relief come across Casey's face.

"We have your back."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, Jessica, Ranowa Hikura, LiveLoveLikeMe, ilovesvu12, karenina bubo, 7Seven7, Jeanne Reveur, and pineapplegrl77 for reviewing. I don't need to remind you all how awesome you are, do I?<strong>

**Anyways, I'm going to get more consistent with the updating schedule on this story. I shall update Fridays and Sundays. Simple as that. It gives me enough time to get chapters done.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you all for reading.**

**Also, to Kimblee Whitehead, if you're reading, check out your profile for a fun surprise! In fact, everybody go to look there. I guarantee you shant be disappointed :D**

**Fayth**


	11. The Case, Jeopardized

Olivia felt proud, looking at the satisfied joy radiating from Casey's face. There was a certain sparkle in her eye, and she wore a relieved grin. Neither of the two woman could be happier. Arty Kensington was caught. It was all over.

"I think I'll let you two have your moment," Trudeau said, smiling at the two woman, "I'll be off now."

She wheeled out of the room, while both of the woman gave a soft goodbye.

Olivia looked at the woman. Casey had just met the woman, and had told her things she'd never informed Olivia or any of the squad. If she were to be honest, she was jealous. Olivia had known Casey for nearly five years, and never knew any of that. The only reason she knew now, was because she happened to overhear.

She realized she would have to inform Casey that she had overheard the conversation. This wasn't the time to do it, though. This was Casey's moment.

"I honestly can't believe it," Casey said, letting out a sigh.

"What, you didn't think we'd catch him?" Olivia asked. Casey giggled.

"Of course I knew you would," Casey replied, "I just…it's been a crazy few days. I mean, it's not every day somebody tries to poison you."

"Yeah," Olivia agreed, "You must have crucified his father, back during the case."

Casey's grin grew.

"You know, that's the weird thing," she said, "I only remember the trial so well, was because it was one of my first times prosecuting. Kensington senior had a very hot-shot, expensive lawyer. He practically buried me alive in that case. He made me look like some babbling five year old."

Olivia raised her eyebrow, confused at the statement.

"I thought you won the case?"

"I did," the prosecutor answered, "Only after Petrovsky found out Kensington's defense had planted evidence in the man's defense. I only won because his attorney was disbarred."

"Yet Arty still tried to kill you," Olivia sighed.

"Guilt by association, I guess," Casey said, "I'll bet you anything Petrovsky was the real target. I was the distraction."

Olivia thought about it. It certainly made sense. Why they were all focusing on who would want to hurt her, they wouldn't be trying to look for somebody who had a grudge against the judge. The package and the newspaper clipping were all a distraction, to keep their attention on her. Maybe Arty was smarter than they were all giving him credit for?

Olivia clenched her fists.

"We don't have to worry about that, now," Olivia said. It didn't matter if Casey was only a distraction. What mattered was they caught him. No amount of planning could save him from that. He would be going to prison for a very, very long time.

If one thing was for certain, she couldn't wait to see this guy rot in jail. She would make sure it happened if it was the last thing she did.

"I just wish I could prosecute this case," Casey sighed, "I would crucify him. He would never know what hit him. I certainly wouldn't let the trail go as horribly as it had gone with his father."

"Maybe you'd get lucky, and his lawyered would be disbarred again."

Casey laughed.

"As long as this kid goes to jail for his crimes, I don't care what happens."

Elliot smiled, like the predator he was. In that moment, he was a fierce mountain line preparing his chase with the helpless deer, or a badger licking its chops before devouring a cobra. Arty Kensington was his helpless prey, and Elliot was hungry.

This was Arty's chance to confess to his crimes, not that they really needed it. There was enough evidence against him to put him away for a very long time. However, confessing to his crimes was his one chance at redemption in the eyes of the law. Even though Elliot would always seem him as the spineless scum he was, it was always more satisfying to actually hear the man say the words "I did it." Arty hadn't actually asked for a lawyer yet, and Elliot felt as if the universe was finally playing nice with the team. He would sleep tonight.

"Did you poison Casey Novak?" was the first question in his interrogation. He stood, grinning by the interrogation room's window. Arty looked a bit nervous, as anybody who was just arrested was, but remained oddly calm.

"Who's Casey Novak?"

Elliot played it calm. As much as he wanted to leap in and smash the kid's head through a window, he contained himself. That would come later.

"Nobody, except the lawyer who put your father in prison. Ring any bells?"

The kid thought for a second, and smirked.

"Oh yeah, her. I bet if she had met dad before the trial, she would have been one of his sex-toys…I mean girlfriends."

The urge to put the kid's face through a window increased. However, he was still playing it calm. He had to be.

"What about Judge Lena Petrovsky?" Elliot asked, "Did you poison her?"

The kid clenched his fists, stiffening at Petrovsky's name.

"She was that ugly judge," he said, "I didn't touch her, but I can honestly tell you I'm in love with the person who did."

"So, you're a narcissist?

The kid was silent, and looked down at the table. He was starting to sweat a little bit.

"I want my phone call."

"How could this guy have been so stupid, and have gotten away with his crimes for as long as he did?" Munch asked, as he looked at the scene through the glass window. He, Fin, and Cragen were all standing behind the glass, waiting to see Elliot brake this guy.

There was no lawyer assigned to the case yet, so it was just them. That was one of the fears still in their hearts. There were some prosecutors that didn't care about justice for victims. They cared about the political aspect and making friends. Also, the team wasn't exactly known for their ability to make best friends. They had pissed off many people in the justice system, and there was the slight possibility that they would get a lawyer who'd not care about justice for Casey. Guilt by association.

"_I want my phone call," _Arty said through the glass. He was probably going to call a lawyer now. That was another fear they had. Even though the Kensington kid has lost his money with his father, he was still high-class, in some respects. It was almost guaranteed that he had some high-profile lawyer on speed dial who would take on his case out of charity. They had him detained, they weren't out of the woods yet.

"So, now begins part two of this battle?" Munch asked, looking to his team mates. Fin sighed, and nodded.

"You can count on it."

Olivia cell phone rang, as she was talking to Casey. Her bed-ridden friend merely laughed at the sound.

"I'm positive that there aren't supposed to be cell phones in here," Casey remarked jokingly, "You're a detective. You should know the rules."

Olivia rolled her eyes at her friends remarks, however, it made her happy. Casey was starting to be back to her zealous self. Pretty soon, she would be back at the job, and they could put this entire situation behind them. Life would finally return to normal.

"Yeah, yeah," Olivia said, and picked up the phone, "Bensen."

"_Detective Bensen, it's Morales."_

Olivia raised her eyebrow. Ruben Morales? Why was he calling her?

"What do you need?" she asked. She heard a sigh from the other end of the phone.

"_I need you to come down to the computer labs," he said, "There's something you need to see."_

"What is it, Morales?" Olivia asked, as she came into the computer labs. She noticed the lab-tech, and saw the look of frustration on his face. What could have possibly happened?

The lab tech pressed some buttons on his computer, and pulled up a piece of footage. It was from a street security camera.

"What's this?" Olivia asked.

Morales pointed to the upper left corner of the screen.

"You see that?" He asked, "That's the parking lot of the hospital. That car in the middle is your squad car."

He pressed some more buttons, and the image zoomed in. She could make out her license plate. It was definitely her car.

As he played the footage, she saw a hooded figure put something under her windshield wiper. She couldn't make out the face, unfortunately. Not that it matter now. They knew Arty had committed the crime.

"That's Arty putting that newspaper clipping in my windshield," Olivia commented, "Why did you need to show me-"

"Look at the time-stamp," Morales said.

"3:21," Olivia read, "Why does this?"

"Look at this," Morales continued, bringing up some more footage.

This time, she could see the three boys that had delivered the package to the precinct, goofing around on the side-walk. In the corner, she could see Arty Kensington, with something in his hands. He walked up to them, and they started to talk. After a while, he handed the boys some package, and they went their separate ways.

"Look at the timestamp here," Morales said.

"3:37," Olivia read, "What does this-"

"The hospital, and this corner are literally five miles away. There is no way that Arty Kensington could have traveled that far in less than ten minutes, even if he took the subway."

Olivia felt her stomach churn, as the words scraped her ears. She couldn't believe it. How could this happen? She had just felt like she could put this whole thing behind her. They had a perfect case against Arty Kensington. How could this be happening?

"So that means-"

"Arty Kensington has a partner."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Ranowa Hikura, Kimblee Whitehead, Jeanne Reveur, Jessica-Loves-Katie, Sister of the Light, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, LoveLiveLikeMe, 7Seven7, VampirePrincess86, and The Wizarding DemiGod for reviewing. I am so proud at how far I've come. I think this is honestly the longest I've ever stuck to a story. It's been such a joy to write this. Don't worry, it's not over yet. Far from it, although we're getting closer to the light...<strong>

**Look for Sunday's update. It'll be very fun and exciting, as always. Everyone reading knows Ruben Morales, right? The fun techy guy. He's not some random character, I promise!**

**Thank you all for reading. Look out tomorrow for an update of Taking A Break From All Your Worries. That chapter shall also be fun and exciting! **

**Fayth**


	12. The Defense, Arrived

As Casey was left by herself, she had to keep from cheering out in joy. Arty Kensington was caught. She couldn't wait to see him go away from all he had done. She could hear the jury saying "guilty" already. It would be a wonderful day.

Although, there was still the part of her mind telling her that it wasn't over yet. It was the sensible part of her mind, that told her not to over celebrate her victories. It was the part of her mind that constantly had to remind her that even though something may seem like it was over, curveballs could come out of nowhere. More often than not, this part of her mind was right.

This part of her mind wouldn't doubt this victory so much, if it wasn't for the fact this had to do with the Kensington case. Possibly her worst moment as a prosecutor. Kensington senior's lawyer had annihilated her in the court room. Kensington senior had walked up to her on that first day of the trial, and thanked her.

But she couldn't let the thought that it wasn't over cloud her mind. Not yet. She wanted her victory. Besides, she had heard the case against Arty. How could it possibly go wrong? Her detectives did everything right, and the evidence against Arty was solid.

It couldn't go wrong. It just couldn't.

Yet that part of her mind just wouldn't shut up. She couldn't get rid of that sinking feeling in her stomach. It was the same feeling she had the day she would get the phone call her mom was diagnosed with cancer. It was the same sinking feeling she had when her dad didn't return home from the store that night so long ago.

She was just going to have to wait and see.

* * *

><p>How the hell was she going to tell Casey? She saw the happiness of the ADA when she learned it was over. Now, they had to deal with someone else too?<p>

She realized she needed to head up to the hospital and warn her friend. Casey needed to know that there was still somebody out to kill her. But they didn't know who? It would leave her friend paranoid that there was somebody she didn't know out to kill her. Hell, Olivia was paranoid about it as well.

It would certainly explain what Casey was saying to her earlier, but the Kensington case not being her finest work. About only winning it by luck. Someone else had a grudge. She had seen Arty. He wasn't smart enough to plan out everything. There was no way he could be the mastermind behind this plot.

They were back to square one. Again.

* * *

><p>Elliot Stabler's eyes widened, when he heard the news.<p>

"What the hell do you mean 'a partner'?"

He stood in the captain's office with the rest of the team. This was the worst news they could have possibly gotten.

"Security Camera's show that Arty couldn't have committed everything we said he did," Cragen explained.

Elliot fought every urge in his body that wanted to punch something.

"Maybe it was another guy Arty paid," Fin said, "If he paid those kids to deliver the package to us, who's to say he didn't pay someone to put put the newspaper clipping on Liv's car."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The team turned around to see none-other than Trevor Langen. Everybody in the room had to suppress their groans in seeing him. It didn't take a moron to figure out why he was here.

"I'm here about my client, Arty Kensington?"

"Of course you are," Munch remarked.

"Elliot, lead Mr. Langen to his client, if you'd be so kind," Cragen commanded.

"Of course," Elliot said, glaring at the defense attorney.

Elliot walked out of the room, and gestured for the lawyer to follow him. He didn't say a word. There were many things he wanted to say to the lawyer, he just chose not to.

Elliot lead the lawyer to his client, trying very hard not to release his wrath upon the defense attorney. He just didn't understand it. Trevor and Casey got along pretty well. He had even tried to help her when she had collapsed in the court room. Now, he was going to defend the scumbag who tried to kill her. Well, one of the scumbags.

"Can I ask you something?" Elliot asked, as they continued the walk to the interrogation room.

"Shoot."

"Why do you do it?" Elliot asked. Trevor stopped dead in his tracks, and gave the detective a slightly confused look.

"Why do I do what?"

Elliot took a deep breath.

"Defend criminals," Elliot answered. Trevor took in a deep breath, and smiled.

"I guess your job being arresting criminals, you don't understand it."

"Nope," Elliot said. Trevor only smiled.

"I'll be honest with you, there are times when I feel certain I'm going to hell."

"And yet, you do it?"

Trevor nodded.

"It's a tough job, and not everyone is cut out for it. You're considered the scum of society, and you have to defend people you know are guilty."

"If you tell me you do it for the money, I'm going to punch you," Elliot said. Trevor only laughed at the detectives statement.

"Hardly," he scoffed, "Don't get me wrong, there are many defense attorney's who's goal in life is to make as much money as possible. They purposely defend rich criminals, because they know they'll always get paid. I might be paid well, but I don't defend people for the money."

"Then why do you?"

Trevor smiled.

"I believe everyone has the right to a fair trial. Everyone should have a fair chance to be proven innocent, or guilty. It doesn't matter if they did the crime, it's not for us to decide. It's for a jury."

Elliot nodded.

"I see," Elliot sighed.

"I don't like defending the guy who murdered Casey, either. But, I was hired to do so, so I have to do it."

Elliot paused for a second. He hadn't been informed that Casey never actually died.

"Actually, Langen, the newspapers were wrong about that one," he said, smiling, "She's alive."

"…What?" Trevor asked, starting to grin, "I might actually be able to sleep tonight, then."

"He still tried to kill her, as well as a judge."

Trevor nodded.

"Then I would like to talk to the prosecutor on this case," Trevor said, "I'd rather try and plead this guy out. I don't want to be known as 'the lawyer who defends judge murderers'. It'll make me look bad, and jeopardize every case I am on later."

Elliot sighed.

"We haven't been assigned one, yet."

"How solid would you say your case against my client is?"

"We have his DNA from a rape kit, as well as motive for poisoning both Casey and Petrovsky. However…" Elliot really didn't' want to disclose this information. It might lead the lawyer to destroy the rest of the case against Kensington. However, he was a detective. Kensington was the only one who knew who his partner was. Langen would be able to talk Kensington into revealing his partner, although for a price. "We have evidence to show he might have a partner."

"I see," Langen said. Elliot appreciated the fact he didn't' seem too happy about the fact, "Let me know when you're assigned a prosecutor. We might be able to work something out."

Elliot nodded reluctantly, continued leading him to his client. This might be making a deal with the devil, but it was their only chance.

"Mr. Langen, what a surprise," a familer voice said. Elliot looked up, and saw Elizabeth Donnelley walking up to them.

"Ms. Donnelley," Trevor greeted, "What a surprise."

"So, you're the defense lawyer on the case?" She asked. Trevor nodded.

"What a surprise," she said, "I'm the prosecution."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you carlotta1924, Ranowa Hikura, 7Seven7, VampirePrincess86, Sister of the Light, Jessica-loves-Katie, Kimblee Whitehead, and W.S.C. Magica De Spell for reviewing. As always, you guys are awesome. Don't stop being awesome. Ever.<strong>

**A shorter chapter, but Friday's will be heavy. Actually, this chapter was going to be longer, but I decided that some of it would best fit in another chapter. I hope you are able to forgive me for this.**

**Anyways, thank you for reading, my lovely readers! Until Friday!**

**Fayth**


	13. The Lights, Aggravating

_Three year old Casey Novak was confused. She lived in a happy family. She had four older brothers, who although they could really suck sometimes, could be cool. She knew they loved her very much. Her dad was in the military. He fought bad guys for a living. He would go away for long periods of time to do this, only to come home and bring all of them cool presents like dolls and chocolate._

_Then there was her mom. She worked very hard to support all of them. Her mom was super-woman. She was smart, she cooked amazing mac N cheese, and she was an fantastic musician. She was the kindest person ever, unless one of them did something stupid. Then she could be scary. Angry mommy wasn't pretty. At all._

_However, she always had a smile on her face, and always did everything she could to make everyone else happy. Casey had never seen her mom cry before. There were tears in her mom's eyes now, though. Something must have been wrong._

_"Mommy," she asked, clutching onto her blanket, "Mommy, why are you crying?"_

_It wasn't just her mom who looked sad, either. All of them did. Her brothers who always acted so rough and tough were standing there quietly, their eyes shining. Even her bad-guy fighting military father seemed shaken. Casey didn't understand._

_"It's fine, baby," her mom said, hugging her daughter closely, "Don't worry. Everything's fine. You're fine."_

_Casey could tell by her mom's voice, that she was lying to her._

_"Liar," Casey said. Her mom held her closer as she said that, and she sobbed. Casey was concerned. Should she be crying right now? What was going on?_

"Hey you!" _a voice filled the room, _"Prosecutor, wake up!"

The scene around her quickly turned to darkness.

* * *

><p>Olivia sat down on her living room couch, leaning her head back on its cushion. She slurped a bite of her food, and glanced out the window. It was starting to get dark. She just needed an hour at home. An hour to decompress from the past few days, to get her mind back to its critical state.<p>

What better way to do that, then cook up some cheap Raman, and listen to music for an hour. She felt like she was in college again.

Her music of choice was the CD given to her. It was more soothing to her then she thought it would be. She had never heard the pianist before, but she was good. Very good. Each note played held a powerful emotion. Focusing on the music seemed to rejuvenate her tired mind, if only for a second.

She had never heard the piece that was being played before. It was absolutely beautiful. It was one of those rare pieces that managed to be both uplifting and sorrowful at the same time. A melancholy ballade, with a pinch of joy. There was no other instruments surrounding the piece. Only the piano was there to sing.

Alex would probably know what the piece was, she thought to herself. Alex had been the queen of classical music. In fact, it was safe to say the former ADA was who got Olivia into classical music in the first place. She had dragged the detective along to many Carnegie Hall performances. However, Olivia soon found she liked those outings. Now, she still went to see shows, even with Alex hidden in the depths of the Witness Protection Program.

Alex had gone into the Witness Protective Program, because somebody wanted her dead. In fact, Alex going into the Witness Protection was the equivalent of her being killed, as Olivia knew she would never be able to see her friend again. All because someone wanted her dead, and she wasn't able to protect her. She wasn't able to do enough to put the people who wanted Alex dead somewhere they couldn't do any damage. What if the same thing happened to Casey? What if she had to be whisked away to somewhere unknown? What if she was actually killed?

That was a possibility, until whoever was threatening her was stopped for good.

* * *

><p>The lights of the interrogation room seriously needed to be replaced. They were dimmed, and did that annoying thing where they constantly blinked. Depending on the day, this could be an environmental advantage, or an another irritating barrier. It all depended on the suspect.<p>

At that moment, it seemed to be the latter.

Elliot stood there, Trevor Langen at the side of the criminal, while Donnelly was next to him. This was their opportunity to get the suspect reveal his partner. Elliot thought it would be an easy enough task. The kid was very quick to deny his role in the plot before, Elliot figured he'd jump at the opportunity to lay the blame on someone else.

That wasn't happening.

"I did everything," he admitted, "I had no partner."

It was a completely different tune then the one he was singing earlier. Normally, it would be ideal. He was admitting to the crime. It would be over, and they could move on with their lives. No messy trial, just a satisfying conviction.

But they wanted to nail his partner. There was someone else willing to harm his friend still lurking in the shadows of the city. Rest couldn't be had, until the threat was secured. If only the key to that mystery didn't lie with Arty Kensington.

"Arty," Langen pleaded, completely mortified that his client would be so willing to take the entire blame, "As your attorney, I highly recommend that you reconsider."

"How can I reconsider?" Kensington replied, "I have no partner. I poisoned the bitches. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

"Bitches?" Elliot asked. The thought of his fist in the kids face pleased him. Maybe if he was allowed to be a tad bit rough, then this whole situation wouldn't be that much of a problem. But, being physical would only give him leverage. The moment he so much as touched a hair on the kid, the case would be blown. Then there'd be two people who wanted Casey dead on the streets.

"Mr. Langen, please inform your client of how unwise it is, to call my coworkers 'bitches'. Especially when I consider both of them my friend," Donnelly said, ice layered in her voice.

"Screw you!" Kensington called out.

The one good thing about this whole situation was how mortified Trevor Langen looked. If this was any other client, Elliot would have been laughing his ass off at just how stupid the client was being.

Arty Kensington was testing everyone's patience. While everybody hoped he would name a name, they weren't sure how much more of this they could take. He was an arrogant asshole, and he should face the punishment of being an arrogant asshole. If he got the full blame of the situation, then that would be his own damn fault. He would face a life sentences, because he was too stupid to wise up for just a second and name one simple name. At least give them something to find out who was pointing their friend. As satisfying as that would be, they needed a name.

"We know you have a partner, Kensington," Elliot demanded, "Evidence proves it."

"Then your evidence is wrong," Kensington replied. That was another baffling trait about the kid. He used the "evidence is wrong" card to cover his partner's ass, not his own. It made absolutely no sense.

"Unless you're somehow magically able to create a wormhole through time, asswipe, then the evidence is flawless."

"Prove I can't."

"That's it!" Donnelly cried out, "I can't do this. We're done here."

And with that, she walked out the door. Elliot let out a irritated sigh. This scenario was giving him a major headache. The flashing lights of the room only made it worse.

* * *

><p>"Prosecutor, wake up!"<p>

Casey groaned, as she was being awakened from her slumber. She was dreaming something, she realized. She couldn't remember what. She hated it when that happened. She wanted to curl up in the protective covers of her blankets, and go back to the dream. Just to remember what it was about.

"Why did you tell me all of that before?"

Casey Novak suddenly found herself alert. She was surrounded by darkness, as her eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep.

However, the familiar voice around her had snapped her from her slumber. It had made her aware of the hospital bed under her, the itch on her head from her scar, and the hum of the hospital's machinery. Casey slowly opened her eyes, the light blinding her. She looked to the source of the voice, and wasn't surprised to find it belonged to Rose Trudeau.

"…Huh?" Casey asked groggily. Her eyes felt sticky, and her mind was still trying to adjust to not being asleep.

"The stuff about your parents," the woman said, "We just met, yet you disclosed all of that to me. Why?"

Casey slowly blinked, as the question was said. Why had she said all of that earlier? She had rarely told anybody about that. She had always felt like she didn't need to place the burden of her home life on others. Yet, she did.

"Idunno," Casey replied in a slur. It was way too early to be thinking about stuff like this. She missed caffeine.

"Are you on jacked up on morphine right now?" Rose asked. Casey blinked again, letting the questions sink in. Was she on morphine?

"I dunno," she repeated. This time, she was able to separate the words out. A true accomplishment. She closed her eyes again, and sighed. She could do this. "At least…I don't think I am."

Rose only smirked.

"That tends to happen," she said.

Casey smiled. She was feeling a bit more alert then she had been.

"So…you just told me all that, because you could?" Rose asked, back to her original subject. Casey shrugged.

"I guess," she sighed, "You are very easy to talk to."

Rose smiled at the compliment.

"You are to," she replied. Casey grinned. If she was going to be woken from to do anything, she'd much rather have it be this. Her conversations with the woman were enjoyable, to say the least. They made it one of her better stays at the hospital.

"Have you ever told any of that to anyone else?" Rose asked, continuing. Casey shook her head, stretching out her arms for comfort. Her eyes glanced up at the ceiling.

"No," she answered, "You're the first."

"I see," Rose said. She let out a sigh, and looked to her lap, "Did it feel good?"

"Did what feel good?" Casey put her attention back on her companion. Her features looked urgent, as if not answering the question would cause the end of the world. It was a bit concerning, to say the least.

"Did what feel good?" Casey asked.

"Saying all that. Did it feel good to tell me all that?"

Casey took in a breath. Did it feel good to disclose her personal family tragedy? To release her burdens on a person who was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger?

If she was to be honest, it was nice not be the only one outside her family to know all that. There was a sense of relief, knowing someone else knew about the guilt she felt over her father's death. As cliché as it sounded, it really did feel like a weight had been lifted from her mind.

She realized, that's why she disclosed all that in the first place. She talked about her mother, and the rest followed. She had released one of the floodgates of her secrets. The pressure relieved itself.

"Yes," Casey said, "It felt good."

"I see," Rose responded, "You know, I won't tell anybody what you told me. It's your life, after all. I'm not going to gossip your story to a personal stranger. Unless they had a gun to my head, that is."

Casey laughed.

"Thanks," she said, smiling.

"So, if I was to get something off of my chest right now, would you do the same for me?"

Casey blinked. She wasn't expecting that last part of the sentence.

"That depends," she said, "Did you murder somebody?"

"I wish I did," Trudeau said. The way she said it instantly brought a chill down Casey's spine. She had been half joking. She expected Trudeau to joke as well. The woman was a master of lightening the mood. The dark aura she was creating now was concerning.

The woman was holding something in, Casey realized. She had let out some of her secrets to her. It was only fair that she could do the same.

"I promise not to tell."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, VampirePrincess86, Ranowa Hikura, LoveLiveLikeMe, Barbara. War, and DianeNealFan26 for reviewing. In fact, thank you to everyone whose ever took the time to review this story. We're four reviews away from 100 reviews guys. Four. There might be something special for the person who's able to have that special fourth review!<strong>

**Also, thank you so much for sticking with me this week. I've been sick. I'm still sick, but I'm getting better. Because I'm sick, there is the great possibility that this chapter could have some very stupid error, so if you see one, please, inform me immediatly. Thank you all for your patience. Because you all have been so awesome, I might update this sooner then Friday. In fact, there's a very good chance I'll update this sooner then Friday. Very good indeed.**

**Thank you all so much for reading, and sticking with me as the war between germs and white blood cells is continuing in my body. I'm so lucky to have readers like you.**

**Fayth**


	14. Her Purpose, Remembered

_The sound of the angry piano chord rang throughout the house, followed by a very loud, frustrated scream. A trail of expletives sailed down through the stairs, and Casey knew her mom was angry. Casey looked at her hand of cards, and at her brothers. All of the Novaks had their hands trembling. As another loud chord was hit, the group simultaneously dropped their cards as they flinched. They were all praying to God that she would come down stairs. They also hoped their weren't the cause of her wrath._

_As another loud, angry scream made its way through the house, Casey saw her father walk in. Her father, the military veteran. A war hero. He was pale as a ghost._

_"Are any of you hungry?" He asked them, "We haven't gone to Lazlo's in a while. Let's go to Lazlo's."_

_The Novak children didn't need to be told twice, and they were out the door in an instant._

_It would just be the six of them. Casey, her four brothers, and her father. It was a house full of males, yet they were terrified of their queen._

_"Why does mom get so scary when she's angry?" Casey found herself asking, as they were quickly heading to their car._

_"She just needs to have her moments," her father replied, "We just need to let her have it. Then she'll be sane again."_

_"As long as it's not like the 'moment' mom had when Casey was born," her brother Steven muttered. Casey blinked._

_"She had a moment when I was born?" she asked. Her father shot the boy a disapproving glare, and gave Casey a comforting smile._

_"Darling, you've been a handful since the moment you were born," he said, "Your mother…is your mother. She'll be sane again soon."_

* * *

><p>"She was a lot like you," Rose started off, "My daughter, Cassie, that is. Maybe not quite as heavy, but the resemblance is there."<p>

"Hey!" Casey exclaimed at the remark, "Heavy?"

Rose simply shrugged her shoulders, a small grin passing her lips.

"You're a big girl, deary," she said, "You're a tall woman with muscle. Unless you're somehow made of air, embrace it."

Casey merely sighed, but nodded.

"Cassie was small. The kids at her school used to call her leprechaun. She had red hair, and she was just above five feet tall. It's always fun when you come to pick your daughter up, to see her being chased by her friends, demanding where the pot of gold is."

Casey had to suppress a smirk at the woman's statement. This was supposed to be a serious moment, and she didn't want to ruin it by laughing. Plus, it would probably be rude. However, Rose seemed to read this from her.

"You can laugh, dear," she said, "It was hilarious."

Casey smiled. The woman really did remind her of her own mother, laughing at things like that.

"Could be worse, I guess," Casey said, smiling.

"She was a strong willed child," Rose continued, "She was like a Chihuahua."

"A chihuahua?" It was an odd thing to compare your kid to. Casey wasn't quite sure if it was an insult or a compliment.

"Tiny, but convinced they could dominate the world," Rose elaborated, "She was feisty, and she definitely had a yip to her."

Casey smiled at the comparison.

"I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing," she said. Rose kept her faint smile, and sighed at Casey's statement. Her eyes went to the ceiling.

"Neither do I, dear," she mumbled, "neither do I."

"It's actually kind of funny," she mused, "She dated the quarterback at her high school, who was a very large son of a bitch. As it turned out, he was cheating on her. You should have seen the verbal smack-down she gave him. Here he was, the man who was at least four times bigger than her, and she's striking the fear of God into him. I can only imagine what would have happened if she was a big as you are."

"She sounds like a tough girl," Casey commented, a small smile on her face. Rose simply nodded, and closed her eyes. She let out a small laugh.

"You have no idea," she muttered, "She got her stubbornness from me. There was a time when we'd have an argument at least once a week about something. Dinner, boys, politics, and that damn nose piercing. God, I hated that thing. It made her look like a bull, or a pig, or something. But, she did anyways, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Casey noticed how the woman was starting to tense up, clenching her fists.

"And then Michaela came along, and everything went to hell on a hand basket."

"Michaela?"

Casey could feel that the story was getting more intense, and watched as the woman became more tense.

"Michaela was a sweet girl, naïve, trusting of everybody. One of those genuinely good people. And Cassie fell in love."

"They became a couple?" Casey asked. She was starting to see where this story was going. Somewhat. At least, she could take a guess.

"Yes," Rose nodded, "And I was furious. It was while Cassie was in college. She went to college in Colorado. It was Christmas break, and she comes home with little Michaela wrapped around her arms. And unfortunately, I was a very close-minded person. You thought we fought like hell before, you should have seen us post-Michaela."

Casey sighed, and nodded. It was something she had seen before. Families torn apart because of a child's sexual identity. She was just thankful that hadn't been the case with her family.

"We ended up not speaking," Rose said, "All because I wouldn't allow myself to accept her. I thought Michaela was her way of pissing me off more."

"I'm sorry," Casey said gently. She looked at Rose some more. The woman's eyes were getting water, and she averted her gaze from Casey, looking at the corner of the room. She swallowed.

"Six months later, I come home to find two messages on my answering machine. The first was from Cassie. She called to apologize. What for, I don't know. She had nothing to be sorry for. She wanted me to call her back, so we could catch up. She said she had something important she needed to talk to me about."

"Did you call her back?" Casey asked. Her friend shook her head.

"The next message was from the cops in Denver," she explained, "Cassie had been attacked. Raped. She died from her injuries at the hospital."

"Oh my god," Casey gasped, "I'm so sorry. I-"

"Michaela came up to me at the funeral," Rose cut her off, "Cassie had saved Michaela. Michaela was the intended victim. She assaulted him while he was trying to rape her. She apparently got the bastard pretty good with a knife," Rose had a bit of pride in her voice at that point, "She had cut his face, and told Michaela to run while he turned his wrath onto her. She could have done nothing, or ran and gotten help from somebody, but instead, she had to play the hero."

Casey saw the tears coming from Rose's eyes, and clenched her fists. She honestly didn't know what to say.

"Did they catch him?"

At the question, she saw Rose's face go from angry to furious.

"Yeah," she nodded, venom layered in her voice, "Mark Turner. That's the bastard's name."

"How much time did he get?" Casey asked. Rose shook her head, her face starting to turn red with fury, her eyes swollen and wet from tears.

"None," she growled, "His father was a cop. He alibied him, and who's going to question a cop? It didn't matter that Michaela had identified him in a line-up, or that he had a new scar on his face from when Cassie had cut him."

Casey felt herself become angry at that. It certainly explained the woman's outburst of hatred towards her the few days before. It suddenly made sense. She didn't blame the woman a bit.

"You know what the worst part of it was?" Rose asked, her voice slightly croaking, "That thing she wanted to talk to me about? She had cancer. She had just been diagnosed with Goddamn cancer."

"What?" Casey exclaimed.

"Michaela told me at the funeral. Although, apparently her chances were looking good. They had got it so soon, it didn't have time to develop too much. She was probably going to _live._"

Casey nodded. She found it morbidly ironic. Her mother, the woman Rose reminded her of, had cancer. Now Cassie, the person she reminded Rose of, apparently had it too. She looked at the bed-ridden woman in front of her, fighting off the damn decease. If the universe was going to be cruel, a doctor would come in the room and tell her that she had cancer as well. The way her week had been going, that wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

"Ms. Trudeau, I'm-"

"Promise me something," the elderly woman stopped her mid-sentence, determination in her voice, "You will fight as hard as you can to get justice for your cases. You won't be blinded by who somebody is or isn't related to, won't disregard somebody just because they won't be the most credible witness. Promise me, you will do everything you can to get justice."

Casey blinked.

"Yes," she said, "I…I mean, yes. I'll fight for justice. I always will."

"Good girl," Rose muttered. There was a moment of silent, as the two started to reflect. Casey looked at her hand, and saw she was shaking. She felt her eyes were wet. Rose's words rang in her ears. Her speech, her story. It reminded her why she did what she did.

She was Casey Novak, Assistant District Attorney. Prosecutor for the Special Victims Unit. She stood up for those who had gone through hell. She was the voice of the violated, the sole voice that fought to give justice to those who deserved it. It was why she was brought on the earth.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by laughter. True, giddy laughter. Coming from Rose Trudeau. Casey raised her eyebrow, turning her head towards the woman.

"When you said 'I'll fight for justice', you sounded like you did on morphine. Did you know that when you're high, you're a superhero with plant powers?"

Casey blushed, forcing out a laugh. The woman's strength amazed her. How she could jump back to that subject so quickly after their moment. It was admirable.

* * *

><p><em>The Novak's cautiously walked back through the door, looking for any signs of their mother's wrath. It had been a few hours, but they couldn't be sure. None of them wanted to be caught in the crossfire.<em>

_However, when they walked in the house, they weren't subject to loud yelling or the banging of a piano. Instead, it was music. Beautiful music. The soulful melody of a piano, and the beautiful voice of a woman. Their mother._

_A sense of relief washed over them, as they saw she was happy again. She was relaxed, soothed. They could hear that her moment of fury was over, and she was back to the sweet woman they knew._

_Casey smiled, looking at her brothers. They all had the same relieved look on their faces._

_"We never did finish our card game."_

_As soon as the sentence was spoken, the Novak children rushed to where they had dropped their cards. Each had renewed their determination to win the card game. _

_As they picked up the cards, their mother's music serenaded the house, and all was normal again. Her moment of fury was over, and they could move on. _

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you 7Seven7, Ranowa Hikura, Jeanne Reveur, dove in love, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, Kimblee Whitehead, Sister of the Light, VampirePrincess86, and karenina bubo for reviewing. Also, congratulations to dove in love for being the 100th reviewing! <strong>

**So, SVU comes back pretty soon. Anybody else excited? **

**Thank you so much for reading. You all are awesome. We're getting near the end, here. However, don't think it will go down smoothly towards the light. The dominos haven't fallen quite yet.**

**Fayth**


	15. The Perpetrator, Closer

"Goddamnit!"

The yell rang throughout the room, as everyone turned to its source.

"Munch?" Olivia asked, cautiously. Not that she didn't already know the answer. However, out of all of them, John Munch had always been the best at keeping his calm. He was able to take the dark situations in life, and make good out of them. He always made lemonade. The fact that he was letting his frustration show to this degree only alerted the detectives at just how hopeless the whole scenario was.

"It's like we're working a Rubix cube that someone else painted so it can never be solved!" he shouted out. There was silence after his statement. It was true. Whoever Casey's other enemy was, seemed to be a ghost.

Olivia looked around the room. Frustration was present on everyone's faces. Why couldn't Arty be it. Why did life have to be so damn complicated.

It was then that two children walked into the precinct. A young boy, with a smaller girl holding on to his arm.

"Um, excuse me?" the boy asked. Everybody looked to him. He couldn't be older then eleven. The girl on his hand clung to him, clearly afraid. "Is this the place where you go if...um...well..."

"Daddy Boris is a meany!" the little girl finished for him. Looking closer at the two, you could see the two of them were bruised around their face and arms.

Olivia signed, as did the rest of them. None of them wanted this. Something to distract then all from Casey's case. However, this was their job. They couldn't leave two desperate children hanging because their only focus was on Casey.

"What are your names?" Munch asked.

"T-this is my little sister Timy. We have an older sister Emmy, but she doesn't know that we're here."

The poor boy was shaking, but was trying his best to keep his brave face.

"And what is your name?" Munch asked.

"Oh! S-sorry...I'm nervous. My name is Casey."

There was a universal cringe throughout the office at the name. Casey. Of all of the names that he could have, it would have to be Casey. The universe was giving them the finger.

"Come with me," Olivia said, gesturing the children over. She would have to at least hear what they had to say.

"I'll go with you," Munch added

Maybe, just maybe, Elliot and Fin would find something while they dealt with this. If nothing else, they might be able to solve the case of at least one Casey.

* * *

><p>"He hits us," Casey said, not making eye contact, "a lot."<p>

It was the first thing he said once he got into the room.

"Who hits you?" Olivia asked.

"Boris!" Little Timy shouted. Olivia nodded, and looked to Munch.

"Who is Boris?" Munch asked the children.

"Our step daddy," the boy sighed, "He's been hitting us since He married our mommy."

"And how long is that?" Olivia asked.

"Timy was two...so...three years...I think. Emmy would know."

"Why did you two suddenly come in now?" Olivia asked.

The two of them looked at their feet.

"Mrs. Ward said that nobody should ever, ever touch you there and to always say no!" Timy exclaimed, "she said if they did, then you should go to the special police."

Olivia sighed, and looked to the boy Casey. His eyes looked like their Casey's. It was that same ambiguous green-brown.

"Did Boris touch you?" Munch asked.

Casey and Timy shook their heads.

"Not us," Casey said, "Emmy."

"She cries every night," Timy added.

"We hid in her closet one night, and watched him do it..." tears were streaming down the boys face, as he re-told the tale, "She kept saying no, and be would stop..."

"He said nobody would believe her if she told..." Timy added.

Olivia felt her heart go out. To watch their sister be raped by their step-father, it must have been the most traumatizing thing ever. These kids were certainly brave for actually coming to report it.

Unfortunately, they could do anything about it. They couldn't arrest this "Boris" character on these kid's say-so. As much as they wanted to, it wasn't enough. They looked to the crying children. They were so brave, and they couldn't do anything about this.

"I have proof, if you don't believe me." Casey added, "We stole Emmy's phone. It had a camera."

He reached into his back-pack, and pulled out a cell phone. Olivia smiled.

If that had a video if what she thought it had, then they would at least get to arrest one scumbag.

Olivia smiled, as she walked out of the room, leaving Munch with the kids. He could get the video from the phone, but it sounded like they had a solid case with them. With a little luck, they would be arresting this "Boris" character within the hour.

Maybe this wasn't the universe messing with them. The boy, Casey, might have been just the opposite. Perhaps it was the universe's was of telling them that they could still get their friend's tormentor. That it wasn't as hopeless as they thought it was.

As she walked back to her desk, Olivia noticed she had a little skip to her step. She spotted her teammates. They would probably enjoy this news just as much as she was.

"Elliot! Fin!" She called out to them. They poked their heads up, frustration on their face. Maybe this would be the break they needed. "You guys wanna arrest a rapist?" She asked, a grin on her face. Just as she predicted, they looked a little less frustrated.

"Just lead us to the son of the bitch."

* * *

><p>Casey felt slightly accomplished. She could actually walk, somewhat. She was at least able to keep her balance. A part of her wondered if maybe Rose Trudeau's story motivated her body to heal faster. That had been a couple hours ago, and she was actually feeling fantastic. She had been walking around her bed for the past half-hour at least. Rebuilding the strength in her feet. It was loads more entertaining than sitting in bed all day.<p>

"Ms. Novak?" A doctor came into her room.

"Yes?" she asked. She felt a bit of concern when he sat on her bed, and sighed.

"Can we talk?"

In her experience, in all her years of seeing doctors, the way this one was acting wasn't a very good sign.

"Um, sure," she said, sighing. He looked her in the eye, a serious look on his face.

"You may want to sit down for this."

* * *

><p>"Boris Rubetsky, you're under arrest. You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law-"<p>

"That bitch! I'm going to kill her! She's a no good, dirty liar! You're really arresting me off of her say so?"

"Actually, scumbag, we're arresting you because we have your dirty little secret on video," Fin said smugly, as Olivia continued reading off his rights.

"You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you."

She handed the man over to Elliot, who "accidently" pushed him against the side of the car.

"Sorry about that," he said sarcastically, and continued to place him back into the van.

In all of their minds, they were picturing this was the man behind their friend's troubles. That this was the guy who decided he wanted Casey Novak dead. That this was the man the jury would convict, and send to prison for ever.

But, even though this wasn't justice for their Casey, they knew at least one Casey would sleep better that night. Maybe that would be enough.

* * *

><p>Olivia and Elliot were satisfied, as they walked back into the precinct. Fin and Munch where on their way taking Boris Rubetsky to Rykers. Munch had complained that he hadn't gotten any of the action arresting the bastard, so Elliot offered for him to take his place.<p>

"That was a nice little distraction," Elliot said, as he went back to his desk.

"Now back to the hopeless task of going through everybody who's ever wanted Casey dead," Olivia replied.

Olivia sighed at her statement, as she went back to her own desk. She may have had a bit of added motivation, but it was still a long night ahead of her.

"Although, before we get to that, I need to ask. Why is there a pile of half-dead followers and a teddy bear on your desk?"

"Wha-" Olivia started to ask, then saw exactly what he was talking about.

The flowers Chell and the other interns had gotten for Casey, that she said she'd bring to her. She never did. They had just stayed on her desk, slowly wilting away. Olivia sighed.

"Goddamnit," she swore, "I was supposed to take those to Casey." Elliot laughed at her mistake.

"Bummer," he said, "A piece of advice. Don't give her those. In my experience, woman don't like it when you give them dead flowers."

"You've given Kathy dead flowers," Olivia joked. The look on her partner's face told her it was true. She laughed.

She realized that she should probably get new flowers. At least teddy-bears couldn't wilt.

That's when an idea came into her head.

"Hey El," she said, "How would you like another distraction before we jump back into this case?"

She saw a grin her partner's face.

"What's your plan?"

* * *

><p>They stood at Casey's apartment door, smiling. Elliot was holding the teddy bear, while Olivia was holding a vase with the giant bouquet of flowers she had bought. Casey would come back to the hospital in a couple of days. What better way to be greeted, then a large bundle of colorful flowers? The vase the flowers were in had enough water for two days, and Olivia knew a good place in the sun she could put them. They were certainly last longer than the ones on her desk did.<p>

"Do you even have a key?" Elliot asked. Olivia gently placed the large bouquet of flowers on the ground, and turned her attention to a picture that was hanging next to the door.

"I know where she keeps her spare."

She took down the picture, and turned it upside-down. There was a layer of cardboard that she took off, revealing a small key.

"It's a good thing we're only here to put things in her apartment, not steal," Elliot commented. Olivia smiled, as she placed the key in the door. However, the door opened on its own. Olivia and Elliot felt their hearts skip. Her place was already open.

They gave each other a glance, and started to walk in their friend's apartment. Elliot placed the teddy bear on the ground, and took out his gun. They crept in, keeping as silent as they possibly could.

There was an eerie feeling to the room. It was so clean. Too clean. Too quiet. The apartment had already become dark, as the sun had started to go down.

"Liv," Elliot whispered. They could hear a rustling sound coming from another one of the rooms. Olivia felt her heart rate increase.

However, an adrenaline sense also filled her mind. What if this was the person who wanted Casey dead? What if they caught him in the middle of setting up his assassination? Maybe today really was their lucky day.

The rustling got closer, as well as the sound of someone walking.

Olivia and Elliot froze, focusing their guns. It was now a waiting game. Waiting for their guy to walk out in the open. Then, they had him. They took deep breath, and clutched onto their guns like their life depended on it. Someone's life did depend on it. Casey's.

Maybe the boy Casey had been a sign. Maybe there was some higher power telling them, that they would get their guy that day. He and his sister's plight was the bridge that would lead them to catching their man. His presence was the sign that everything was ended.

Time seemed to freeze as the footsteps got louder, as their guy got closer. Their minds were filled with the thoughts of Casey. Their friend. How much she had been through within the past week. How much all of them had been through within the past week. It had been so long, but for once, they were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

They could only pray it didn't get dark again.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, hanfan26, dove in love, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, Jessica-loves-Katie, LoveLiveLikeMe, Barbara. War, VampirePrincess86, and 7Seven7 for reviewing.<strong>

**So, out of my own personal curiosity, what did everybody think of the premiere of SVU? Anyone else glad it's back?**

**Thank you all for reading, as always. You make me smile. Happy Saturday, everybody!**

**Fayth**


	16. The Lawyer, Alarmed

More shuffling, more sounds. Every second, they could hear the man getting closer and closer. Elliot and Olivia didn't dare make a peep. They did not want to alert whoever this guy was that there was others in the apartment. The less chance of escape there was, the better.

They silently drew their weapons into firing position. They were prepared.

Their target's dark shadow could be seen on the wall. The lighting of the room made the shadow expand, causing the shadow to look like that of some giant monster. It was a monster. Anyone who put them through all of this trouble was. Was it really that simple? Was it really going to end here, on some chance encounter? Would they be able to go to their friend with the good news?

They couldn't wait any longer. They made their move.

"NYPD! Freeze! Don't move!"

"NYPD! Stop and put your hands where we can see them!"

Their perp screamed as they started to yell, and the sound of glass breaking could be heard as she did what she was told. It was only then that the two detectives saw who was in the apartment.

"Casey?" Came Olivia's dumbfounded response. Sure enough, it was none other than Casey Novak. Standing in her own apartment.

"Elliot? Liv! I don't understand!"

She was breathing heavily and her face was as white as a ghost, something they realized had nothing to do with her days spent at the hospital.

Elliot and Olivia both realized that they still had their guns pointed towards their friend. Their faces blushed with embarrassment, they quickly holstered them.

"Casey..." Elliot started, trying to figure out the best way to explain themselves. He was figuring out if there even was a best way to explain to somebody a situation like the one they just put her through.

That was when Casey fell to her knees, her breathing getting much heavier.

"Casey!" the two detectives exclaimed, rushing to her side. They grabbed onto her, making sure she didn't fall more.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Casey growled, shaking off their help. She glared at them, as she started to cough a little bit.

"Casey, shouldn't you be in the hospital?" Olivia asked. Casey took a deep breath, her breathing pace starting to become normal.

"I was released-" she started to cough, "-early. I was released early. I would have called, but I didn't have my phone with me. I was going to call after I ate something."

The two detectives were the second people to startle her that day.

* * *

><p>Casey took a deep breath, bracing herself. She could mentally check the odds, and they were not in her favor. Especially now in her weakened state.<p>

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Ms. Novak, but-"

Cancer. Ebola. AIDS. The black plague. Every single deadly disease that was out there, she was picturing it.

"There's no easy way to put this, so I'll just say it bluntly. Ms. Novak, you are well enough to go home."

Casey blinked at the doctor's words. She realized it wasn't the grim news she had braced herself to prepare. The smirking look on the doctor's face was enough to confirm that she didn't mis-heard him.

"I...I can leave?"

"Yes. Unless, you don't-"

"No," she stopped him, "I want to go home. I can't take another day here."

The doctor laughed.

"Just remember, you're still weak. Your body won't fully recover for another week. Take that time off. Relax, and don't do anything that would increase your heart race. No exercising, caffeine, nothing that would increase your adrenaline."

"You got it."

* * *

><p>"Goddamnit," Casey mumbled. She felt dizzy. She had a feeling this situation would count as a "increase in adrenaline." She closed her eyes, taking another deep breath. She refused to have to go back to the hospital. She had only been out for an hour. If she had known that the two of them would break into her house, she would have played dead, or device a trap that looked like it should be in a Home Alone movie. They certainly deserved it after this. Of course, that brought up the question.<p>

"Why are you two even here?" Casey spat.

"Your interns bought you flowers...we thought we'd set them up," Olivia replied, panic in her voice. Casey didn't know if she was panicking about the fact that she was having trouble standing, or the fact that she had just broken into her house and held her at gunpoint.

There was more throbbing in her head. More dizziness. Casey didn't want to stand up, for the fear that she would fall again. If she could stand up, she would have a better chance of convincing herself she did not need to go back to the hospital.

She couldn't go back to the hospital. No way. She felt her heart starting to calm down. The stupid part of her mind was telling her she would be okay. Preventing an increased heart rate was just a precaution. If it was true that a little bit of adrenaline would kill her, she would be dead. Maybe she could just get to bed and sleep it off. Sleep in her own bed. With memory foam. With food that didn't come from the hospital.

"Casey, your foot!" Elliot exclaimed. Casey blinked. Her what?

She looked down, and saw her foot. It was surrounded by broken glass and was red with blood. It was a sight that made Casey glad she wasn't squeamish. Shards of the glass were lodged in multiple different places. Her foot looked like a murder scene. Now that she saw her foot, she suddenly became very aware of the pain she was feeling.

She was going to have some cereal. She had dropped the glass bowl when Elliot and Olivia were screaming at her with guns to her head. And of course, as her luck would have it, the bowl would drop on her foot.

"We should get you back to the hospital," Elliot said. There was no way around it. She would have to go back to the hospital. And now she would have the added bonus of stitches.

Casey sighed. Of course she did.

"Wonderful," Casey muttered. That's when something unexpected happened. Elliot picked her up bridal style. Casey let out a shriek.

"What. You weren't going to try and walk on that thing, were you?" Elliot laughed, gesturing to her foot with his eyes.

"You really want to play taunt the lawyer right now?" Casey asked. The two detectives only giggled at her discomfort.

That was when Casey noticed that Olivia had stopped. She wasn't smiling any more, and she was serious.

"You guys go ahead," Olivia said, a forced smile on her face. Casey realized she was looking to Elliot, they were communicating without words.

"Liv?" Casey asked.

"I'm just going to pick up broken glass. Elliot, go on without me. I'll take a cab."

"Got it," Elliot replied, the tone in his voice now just as serious as Olivia's was. Casey instantly felt concerned. Why were the suddenly so serious.

"Guys?"

But they didn't answer. Elliot just rushed her out of her building. Casey noticed the strange looks she was getting from her neighbors. She remembered just how paper thing her walls were. TO her neighbors, it probably sounded like the two detectives were stopping a murder in process. Her foot was dripping her blood. The part that didn't end up on Elliot's uniform only went on the floor. She would be the talk of the apartment for a long time.

* * *

><p>Olivia noticed that Casey's stove had been turned on. This instantly turned on alarm bells, as it sounded like Casey hadn't been home for ten minutes when they arrived. There was no way that she would have the time to cook something. She didn't want to alarm Casey any more then she had, however. It might have been nothing.<p>

As she started to look around the building, though, she noticed something else. There was a teddy bear on the counter, wearing a baseball hat and bat. There was a large bow around its neck, a tag hanging out. It looked slightly familiar.

_Feel better soon!_  
><em> From, you're Friends<em>  
><em> XO<em>

She knew that handwriting on the tag, and briefly wondered if it had been somebody from work. Maybe the lawyer friends Casey had drinks with of Tuesdays.

That's when she recognized the bear, and she gasped.

The bear wasn't a teddy bear, but a nanny-cam. She had just had a Casey where the same model of camera had been used. She clenched her fists, and took out her phone.

She would be a little later in heading to the hospital then she had originally planned.

But a part of her had hope. She knew that nanny-cams like this one streamed images to a source. If they could find their source, they could probably find their guy.

* * *

><p><strong>Dear readers. I realize that I do suck. I haven't updated anything in about three weeks, nor have I given any clue to indicate that I am still of the mortal world. I am. I wish I could say my absence was caused by something worthy, like a car-accident or being held for ransom, but it wasn't. I've got a job at a haunted house, where the hours literally go past midnight. My days have consisted of homework, scaring people, and sleeping. But I'm back, and I'm sorry. Please feel free to send me angry messages via PM.<strong>

**For my readers of Taking a Break from All Your Worries, that will also updated as soon as possible. Less then 24 hours.**

**For those of you who are still reading, thank you for your patients. You are amazing. Thank you for reading.**

**Fayth**


	17. The Computer, Alone

It was the case that seemed to never end. More clues kept showing up. Then more dead ends, and the another clue. It almost felt as if whoever was the mastermind was playing with them. They were the puppets to an unknown master. But Olivia had hope. She always had hope. The nanny-can could stream to other places. They could find the source of where it was streaming.

And sure enough, Ruben Morales was able to pin-point a location in a matter of minutes. It was easy. Maybe a little too easy. Olivia wondered if this would turn into another dead end. But it was a shot.

She called Cragen with the news. He sounded tired. He hadn't slept in a very long time. He was just as done with this case as the rest of them.

"Take Munch with you, and check it out," was his only command. Elliot was still with Casey at the hospital. Olivia didn't know if she should pity her or him. While it was true Casey was the one getting the stitches, it was Elliot's fault. They would owe her for this.

But maybe, just maybe, if they found their guy at the next place, they would owe her a little bit less.

It was just another little part of the cat and mouse game the team had found themselves in. That just left the question of who was the cat, and who was the mouse?

* * *

><p>"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!" the doctor exclaimed at her, as Elliot brought her into the hospital with her damaged foot. It was by luck that the same doctor who had released her such a short time ago was talking to the receptionist, "Goddamnit. I just released you. I literally just cleared you to go home. What the hell did you do?"<p>

Casey looked up at Elliot, a slight scowl on her features.

"He broke into my house with my partner and pointed a gun at me. I dropped a cereal bowl on my foot."

The doctor sighed, while the receptionist chuckled.

"You'll have to tell me in greater detail while I fix up your foot."

She could only imagine how Ms. Rose would react to this situation.

* * *

><p>It was with their luck that the nanny-cam had been traced back to a coffee shop with free wi-fi. Of course it was. It was a place called Tieger's, the building's window holding up one of the multiple signs that said "The best coffee of the east coast."<p>

The building was packed with people, many of them on computers. Olivia and Munch seemed slightly out of place with their un-clean looking appearance. Everyone else seemed so crisp and tidy. Everyone raised an eyebrow at their appearance, but went with their lives. Olivia and Munch looked over everyone who was in the building, looking for any sign of a familiar face they could link to the case. Someone who had appeared before, seemingly insignificant. But nobody appeared. Nobody seemed to panic at the two cops sudden appearance. To everybody in the room, everything was normal. Nothing was out of the ordinary. None of them had any sort of an idea of what they two cops had gone through in the past week.

"Goddamnit," Olivia sighed. Her hands were clammy. Her mouth was dry. The smell of coffee filled her body. Coffee. Coffee sounded really good right now. And food. Coffee shops usually had food. She looked to Munch.

"Do you think anybody would care if we ordered something?" she asked. Munch gave her a sly grin.

"Yes," was his answer, "which is why we won't tell anybody."

And that's what they did. Two large cups of non-caffeinate coffee, with two turkey sandwiches. The small, fancy looking kind that coffee-shops often made. They sat down. They ate in silence. Coffee and food had never tasted so good.

Olivia was the one to break the silence.

"It's weird," she stated, as she took another sip of her coffee, "I've never been here, but I could've sworn I've tasted this coffee before."

"Probably," Munch said, in-between a bite of his sandwich, "They bought this coffee from somewhere else. It wouldn't surprise me if a million other coffee shops around the country use this same brew."

Munch's ever-lasting cynicism made her smile. Just a little bit. The conversation to take their mind off of yet another failure.

"The sign above their menu says it's their own special brew," Olivia pointed out.

"And you're going to believe every sign you see?"

She smiled a bit more as she took another sip. He was probably right, but still. She knew she'd had this kind before. She just couldn't place where. Not that it really mattered. It wasn't the most important question in the world.

Her eyes looked the room one last time, but it wasn't the faces of people she saw. No, instead, she saw a single, lone laptop. It was just sitting there. Nobody was using it. She nudged Munch on the shoulder, and pointed to it.

"Do you think…" she didn't need to see more than that. Munch saw the laptop, and had the same suspicions. They decided not to jump on it automatically. There was the possibility that its owner was going to the bathroom. They needed to be smart about how they played this. They silently agreed to finish their food. If there was no owner by the time they finished they would check it out.

The two detective's looked to each other, and stroked up a conversation about dogs. They both figured if they stared at it, if the owner was here, they'd get scared.

"You just got a new puppy, Fin tells me?" Olivia asked. Munched nodded.

"He's eaten all of my underwear. It sucks."

"I certainly hope you're wearing underwear right now."

"You don't want an answer to that questions."

And the conversation continued. Talking. A sip of coffee here and there. More eating. No owner in sight. It was only when Munch finished up his last bite of sandwich that the two detectives casually made their way over to the computer.

Whoever had just last used the computer was looking to purchase tickets to a Broadway show, RENT. But it seemed like a cover. This was a nice computer. Nobody would just leave it. Unless, somebody had left in a hurry

But there were other things open on the computer. iTunes, audacity, web-cam footage. Web-cam. Olivia pulled it up.

Sure enough, there was footage, but not from the computer's webcam. It was from a particular bear that was in one Casey Novak's apartment.

They had their perps computer. It was the equivalent of having a picture. Brilliant.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Ranowa Hikura, carlotta 1924, LiveLoveLikeMe, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, Sister of the Light, VampirePrincess86, and BrokenDreams03 for reviewing.<strong>

**I should really stop apologizing for long absences, although I truly am sorry. Just remember that I am a busy person outside of the world of computer. But I wanted to update before the new years, and I did. For most of you, anyways. I hope 2012 will be amazing for all of you. Each and every one of you deserve it, for being so patient with me. I don't know why you all are so patient. But I will finish this story soon. I've spent the past few days writing, anyways. I'm hoping to close it before I go back to school on the 9th.**

**Thank you all so much! **


	18. The Detective, Crashed

There was a specific reason John Munch didn't like technology. That reason was if somebody is able to steal any source of technology, such as a laptop or a cell phone, that person would essentially have every piece of important information on the computer's owner. That was exactly the case with the laptop they found. It was truly amazing just how much of a well of information a single piece of plastic could be.

One of the things they were able to look at on the computer were photographs. There were many different photos of many different people. One of these people was Arty Kensington. There was the brief fear that this was his computer, and that the detectives would be brought back to square one. However, they found out very quickly that it was not computer. That was one of the other pieces of information they were able to take off of the computer; the name of its owner.

"Felix Winslow," Olivia said triumphantly, "we've got you now."

Although, there was just one issue.

They didn't know what Felix Winslow looked like.

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on, doc!" Casey whined. It was needless to say that she was frustrated with her current situation. Why would she not be? The day had started out so hopeful for her. She had been giving the opportunity to get out of the hospital early. It was a wonderful concept, being deemed healthy enough not to die. And of course, with her luck, Elliot and Olivia had to come along. They were the very reason her doctor was giving her the bad news.<p>

"I'm sorry, Ms. Novak, but we're going to have to keep you here tonight to keep any eye on everything, just to be sure."

Casey let out a very irritated sigh, sending a glare at Elliot. He had a guilty expression on his face.

"Sorry, Case," he muttered to her. Her eyes went to her foot, one of the other sources of her bad mood. The hospital had just stitched it up. It looked like the foot of Frankenstein at the moment. They had completely numbed it, so she still couldn't feel it.

That was the moment that Elliot got a text. The doctor glared at him, as he wasn't supposed to have his cell phone on in the area. Elliot blushed, and quickly glanced at the text. Casey giggled. It was her little moment of karma.

"Casey, does the name Felix Winslow ring any bells?" Elliot asked her.

Felix Winslow. She thought about it, maybe it was someone from a previous case. However, the name didn't trigger any memories. She shook her head.

"No, why? I mean, you caught Kensington, right?"

And that's when Elliot realized something important. The team had made a grave error in their investigation. Nobody had told Casey Novak that her life was still in danger. She had gone all this time, not knowing that there was still a person out there who was plotting her death.

Elliot honestly didn't know what to say. She had gone the past few days living in this false security. She had the comfort of think that those who would do her harm were locked away. Now he was given the not so wonderful opportunity to tell her otherwise.

"Casey," he sighed. He realized he was not high on her list of favorite people at the moment. He was about to put himself lower down. With his luck, she would like her attempted murderers better than him by the end of the day.

"Elliot…I'm confused. What's going on?"

* * *

><p>Olivia was finding out she loved technology for the very reason Munch hated it. The whole situation was just getting better and better. She had texted the update to her partner, telling him the name of the suspect and to get back to the precinct soon. They were so close to finally closing the case. She wasn't going to let this opportunity slip between her fingers because they were down one man.<p>

One of the accomplishments they were able to make, was they were able to hack into Felix Winslow's e-mail, and look through his contacts. Sure enough, Arty Kensington happened to be one of them. Another contact they found, which was a slight surprise, was Patricia Greeley, the owner of the soup shop. She theorized that if Felix was someone Patricia trusted and she confided in the bastard, he could have told Kensington. This situation was starting to look very good for them. However, they still had no image of Felix to go off of. That was their main problem.

They were getting close, though. Anticipation was building in all of them. Everybody in the squad hoped that Elliot would be here soon.

* * *

><p>"Nobody told you," he sighed. It was the best thing he could think of to say. He had never been good at giving bad news to people. He always left that job to his partners. He wished it had been Olivia to take her to the hospital, and not him. She would be so much better at this.<p>

"Told me what?" Casey demanded. She was already in a bad mood. Knowing she was in the dark about something important wasn't helping her temper.

"We found out Kensington had a partner." That was his best method of giving people news; being blunt about it. It never seemed to work in his favor. Now was no exception to that fact. He saw the shock register on her face. She almost looked more shaken by this news then she had been when he and Olivia pointed guns in her face.

There was an awkward pause, as Casey took in this information. Even the good doctor seemed a little bit stunned. Elliot cursed himself. He had completely forgotten there was a doctor in the room. That probably made the entire situation worse. He could only wait for Casey to yell at him. She had every right to yell at him. At the very least, she could tell him how much of an idiot his is. He deserved no less. Plus, if she knew, she could have helped the investigation. She would have a general idea of who might team up with Arty to take her down.

"I've never heard of anyone named Felix Winslow. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

There was no fire in her voice, no spark, no rage. There was no fight in her voice. It was calm. Oddly calm. Elliot knew Casey, this was much too calm. But it wasn't the voice of somebody who's been defeated, either.

He nodded at her, and she nodded back. They had their suspect's name. He would be caught relatively soon. That much was for certain.

"I guess I should head back to the station," he said. She waved him goodbye.

"Just make sure you keep me updated this time."

He smiled, and walked out the door.

Casey was strong. If she could survive this much, he had no doubt she could make it all the way.

* * *

><p>Something had gotten their attention. The computer had made a small dinging sound on the computer. It was a sound most people in the room were familiar with. It was the sound that a new message had been received. It was opened in a matter of seconds.<p>

The message was probably one of the weirdest messages they had seen. It came from somebody listed in the contacts as Zusak.

_I'm on my way to the grocery store near Alameda to get the ginger._

Olivia just stared at the message, slightly confused.

"What the hell does that mean?" she mumbled to herself.

Was it code for something?

That had to be the case. There was no other logical explanation.

"I think this is code for something," she alerted her team. She was surrounded by Fin and Munch, who quickly read the message. Munch smirked at it.

"Maybe one of his friends just has a craving for pickles," he mused. Olivia couldn't help but smile at the statement. However, Fin had a much different reaction then his partner.

He leaned in closer to the message, analyzing it. His face seemed to pale.

"Has there been any other messages from this guy?" he asked. He had a very serious tone to his voice, that told the others that this was not something to laugh at. Something serious was happening, even though Olivia and Munch had no idea what.

Olivia did as Fin told her, and looked through Felix's other messages. Sure enough, this wasn't the first time "Zusak" had contacted Felix. The other messages between the two were just as random as the first. It seemed to appear that they were talking about different foods and different locations to get foods. Olivia and Munch didn't seem to understand it at all.

"Goddamnit," Fin muttered. He slammed his fist down on the desk, and the large sound echoed across the room. The other two detective's eyes widened in shock at Fin's sudden outburst.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked.

"I know this code," Fin sighed, "I remember it from narcotics, but there's no time to explain."

He sounded urgent.

"Fin-"

"Call Elliot and tell him to make his way back to the hospital now. Casey is in danger. I will explain the code on the way, alright?"

* * *

><p>Elliot had gotten the call from his partner. Olivia told him to get his ass back to the hospital. She would explain later.<p>

Elliot didn't need to be told twice.

He thanked God that he had been taking his police cruiser. He put on the sirens, and did an illegal U-turn to put himself back in the path of the hospital.

Sirens were one of the most underappreciated tools he had as a cop. When he had them on, people had to move out of the way so he could get where he was going. When you're in the police department, there are moments when every single second counts. This was one of those moments. Everyone was moving out of his way. It gave him a sense of power. It was a power he could use to save the life of his friend.

He never got the change to use that power, though.

Not everyone moves for police cards.

Elliot was going so fast, that before he could even think about it, a car turned in front of him. He attempted to steer out of the way, but it wasn't enough. Their cars collided. The airbag blew up in his face. Elliot's car rolled over. Elliot could feel pain shooting from all parts of his body. He could feel tricklets of blood dripping from many different places. He groaned.

In later days, he would start to live with the fact that had he not gotten into that accident, Casey wouldn't woke up to the sound of gunfire and screams.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you Sister of the Light, Ranowa Hikura, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, hanfan26, carlotta1924, and Tennessee Vaughn Williams for reviewing. Sorry I didn't get back to all of you individually like I normal do. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.<strong>

**Thank you for reading!**

**Fayth**


	19. The Intern, Harmless

She hated having to wait in the hospital bed. Again. She slightly loathed Elliot and Olivia just a bit. It was their fault she was in here. If only they hadn't gone into her apartment in the first place, she would be nice and safe eating a bowl of cereal. Then again, she would have never known she was being watched by somebody. She did have a right to be grumpy at the duo, though. She wished that was the only thing she could be upset at them about.

There was someone else out there that wanted to kill her. It wasn't as if she hadn't been in this situation before. This would actually be the third time she would be in a hospital, wondering if a doctor was going to smuggle her with a pillow. It was one of the perks of the job. That wasn't the part that upset her in the situation.

She was upset because the detectives didn't think she could handle the information. When something like that comes to light, she should be the first one to know. It is her life. Did the detectives think she was too frail to handle the information? She could handle herself.

She sighed. She shouldn't over think it. She was over thinking it way too much. They were doing everything in their power to keep her safe. She should thank them. She would wait to be upset when the situation blows over.

Now she just needed to figure out something to do. There was never anything exciting in the hospital. She wondered if Rose Trudeau would come and rescue her from her misery. Did the woman even know she was back? She just wanted something somewhat exciting to happen.

* * *

><p>Elliot groaned. He was upside down, thanks to his seatbelt. He body hurt. He felt sticky in places. When he slightly moved, he would feel a stinging sensation when he moved.<p>

How the hell did that happen? Sure, maybe he was speeding a little bit. The siren was on. He was in a cop car. It was an emergency. Casey's life could depend on it. He mind told him that he should get out of the car and run the rest of the way. He was a fast runner. He could do it.

However, his body wanted nothing more than for him to close his eyes. He took a deep breath. That sounded good. His eyelids started to fade.

He could hear sirens and screaming. He shook his head. No. He couldn't fall asleep. Not yet. There was still a person out there who wanted to kill Casey.

* * *

><p>"Hi. I'm looking for Casey Novak? What room is she in?"<p>

The receptionist smiled at the visitor, and pointed down a hallway.

"You have wonderful timing. She just checked in about a half an hour ago. I'm sure she would love having a visitor."

* * *

><p>Olivia went down the road as fast as she possibly could. Her thoughts were a mixture of panic and hatred of Felix Winslow. She could only imagine Casey helpless in her hospital bed. If somebody wanted to kill her, Casey probably wouldn't be able to defend herself. Backup units from all over Manhattan were on their way to detain their mysterious assassin. As she raced down the road, she listened to Fin explain to her the code.<p>

"It's a very specific code, but it's simple," Fin explained, "The item mentioned will represent a specific person. In this case, it's _ginger,_"

"_Ginger _is supposed to be Casey, I take it" Olivia finished. That part was easy to figure out. Casey was a red-head after all. She didn't need Fin to explain that section to her. Plus, she was the one who bad been put in so much danger in the past week.

"The important in codes like these is the location. The location is what gives us the most specific information. It gives us the crime and place."

Olivia nodded, sighing.

"What's _grocery store _supposed to be?" She asked, not wanting to know the answer. She didn't need it to be explained, though.

"In messages like these, _I'm going to the grocery store _really means _I'm going to kill that person at the hospital._"

Olivia pressed her foot harder on the pedal. She wasn't about to let anybody murder her ginger.

* * *

><p>Casey stared up at the ceiling, and sighed. She wondered if a day had gone by yet. Probably not, because she hadn't been given any food yet. Not that she was the slightest bit hungry. The only good thing about hospital meals was that they gave a good indication of how much time passed by.<p>

"You know, it would be very easy for someone to kill you right now," a familiar voice greeted her. Casey felt chill go up her spine. She instantly thought back to the fact that her life was in danger. She snapped her head towards the door of the room.

"Chell!" She exclaimed. The young intern smiled at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Novak!" the intern exclaimed. Casey breathed out a sigh of relief. The threat of danger seemed to disappear into thin air. "I was just musing to myself…that was a horrible thing for me to say! Why did I say that?"

Casey couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's empty headedness.

"Don't crowd the doorway," Casey commanded. She gestured for her intern to come closer to her, "I'm not contagious. You can get near me."

The girl gave her a giddy nod, and rushed over to her side. She rushed almost too quickly. Casey sighed.

The girl was no threat.

"I brought you some food," Chell offered her. Casey watched as the intern reached into her bag, and brought out a small container of what Casey imagined was soup. She laughed a little bit.

"I'm not that hungry now, but thanks."

Yes, she was sure that Chell provided no threat to her life.

* * *

><p>"Liv!" Fin exclaimed. Olivia slammed on the breaks.<p>

In the middle of the road was a gigantic accident. A group of cars were scattered about.

But there was one particular car that caught her eye. She recognized the license plate.

"Elliot," Olivia murmured. A fear for her partner's wellbeing raced throughout her mind. He couldn't be hurt. He just couldn't be. She wanted nothing more than to jump out to her partner's side, make sure the man was okay. But she knew she'd be risking Casey's safety if she did.

"Liv, you can hear ambulances coming towards here," Fin said, trying to comfort her, "Listen. We can't worry about Elliot right now. He can take care of himself. Casey can't."

Olivia sighed. She knew the man was right. As much as it pained her, she had to make it to the hospital as quickly as she could.

"We have to take the long way," she sighed. It would cost them an extra fifteen minutes, if they were lucky. She just hoped that Casey had that much time to spare.

* * *

><p>Casey had been enjoying herself, talking to the intern. She compared Chell to a puppy. She was loyal, energetic, and eager to please.<p>

"So you're really the mastermind behind the prank in my office?" Casey asked her. The girl nodded quickly.

"I'm sorry," Chell sighed, "I was just so excited at the opportunity to possibly get to impress you, Ms. Novak!"

Casey's grin grew. Never, in all of her life, had there been a better time for an intern to suck up to her.

"You're too kind," Casey said. She was trying to be honest.

"But it's true! You are good at everything. You have one of the highest conviction rates for prosecutors in the state, you're really good at pranks, you're pretty, and you're one of the best catchers I've ever seen! I want to be just like you!"

Casey smiled. At that moment in time, she was as pale as a ghost, she nearly died multiple times, her foot looked like it was created by doctor Frankenstein, and she would be stuck in the hospital for a little bit. It was Chell's compliments that boosted her pride.

Casey yawned. She hadn't had a lot of energy since this whole ordeal began.

"As much as I am enjoying this conversation, I think I'm going to sleep," Casey said. Chell nodded.

"Oh! Of course! I'll get right out of your hair!"

Casey smiled, and closed her eyes.

"Goodbye, Chell."

"Sleep well, Ms. Novak."

She was able to stay awake just long enough to hear Chell hum a tune as she walked out. Casey knew the tune she was humming. It seemed odd coming from Chell's lips.

She was asleep before she could think about it more. She would be asleep as man walked up in the parking lot, holding a gun. She would be asleep as he walked in the building, and asked the receptionist for the lawyer's room. She would be asleep as he made his way towards his pray.

She didn't know how long she was asleep before she awoke to the sound of a gunshot.

She shot out of her bed. Had she heard that right? How long had she been out? She looked at the clock on the wall. She was only asleep five minutes. Maybe she was being paranoid. She was slightly sleep deprived. It might have been a nurse dropping something.

But the sound came again. Another shot. More screaming.

She clenched her fists. She had just awoken into a scene of complete and total chaos.

It was the chaos caused by a person hired to kill her.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank youRanowa Hikura, hanfan26, Tennessee Vaughn Williams, Sister of the Light, Ray25, W.S.C. Magica De Spell, and Zenestra for reviewing. Sorry it took a bit of a while. I had it done before Monday. Honestly, I did. However, I'm an idiot and forgot that Word doesn't automatically save documents for you. This chapter was originally a bit longer, but I got it mostly back to where it was.<strong>

**You didn't think I would reveal the hired assassin that quickly, did you? Thank you for reading, lovelies! We're in the stretch!**

**Fayth**


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